I guess since his passing I've appreciated James Gandolfini more than before, I wasn't a Soprano guy but I really enjoyed him as Mayor of NYC in the remade Taking of Pelham 123. That's why I watched this obscure little flick. He plays the manager of a tiny amusement park in one of the strangest beach areas you've ever seen. More than anything I'm fascinated by the shooting location, undoubtedly on the ocean but with city views out in the distance (in fact Keansburg NJ is across Raritan Bay from Perth Amboy and within view of lower Manhattan). Since the story occurs in the winter, the physical back drop is even more depressed by the season. James is affected by the death of his sister, who knowing she had cancer goes to France, marries a man, and leaves him one half of the house she shared with James. Does she do this because she knows he will be good for James? Your guess is as good as mine. I was drawn partially into this movie, enough to watch it through but not enough to highly recommend it for anything but die-hard JG fans. P.S. I have since visited Keansburg and Kiddie Land and it looks just like it does on the screen.
15 Reviews
I don't know how to feel
jonathanparish18 August 2020
A Real Cold Life
LeonLouisRicci16 February 2014
As Tony Soprano James Gandolfini has left an Enduring Icon in Popular Culture. An Actor who Carried His Bulk Uneasily, yet with Intimidation, Always seemed to be Struggling against Gravity. Inside was a Smoldering Fire that He seemed to Restrain Except for an Occasional Outburst that Resembled a Raging Bull.
In this Little Seen, Little Movie He gives an Actor's Showcase along with a Strong Cast, as a Sensitive Soul that is Bitter about the Life He was Given. When a Stranger Shows Up and says that He was Married to His Vacationing Sister, Gandolfini is Suspect and is Outraged when he is told some Very Bad News.
This is a Chilling and Atmospheric Movie that is Interspersed with Interpersonal Relationships that are Fragile and Long Suffering. It is a Slice of Jersey Life with a Background of a Small Amusement Park that Recalls a Remanence of a Neglected Bastard Child of Coney Island Long Removed from its Glory Days.
Certainly Worth a View for those that are Attracted to Real Life Scenarios Without a lot of Packaging and is a Somewhat Subtle Display of Repressed Emotions and a Depressing Existence. It is the Environment of an Abusive Family Life and a Cold Setting of a Sunless Beach and a Wintery Carnival that like the Humans that Inhabit are Distinctively Dislocated from a Friendly or Attractive Place that is Conducive for Thriving and Prospering.
In this Little Seen, Little Movie He gives an Actor's Showcase along with a Strong Cast, as a Sensitive Soul that is Bitter about the Life He was Given. When a Stranger Shows Up and says that He was Married to His Vacationing Sister, Gandolfini is Suspect and is Outraged when he is told some Very Bad News.
This is a Chilling and Atmospheric Movie that is Interspersed with Interpersonal Relationships that are Fragile and Long Suffering. It is a Slice of Jersey Life with a Background of a Small Amusement Park that Recalls a Remanence of a Neglected Bastard Child of Coney Island Long Removed from its Glory Days.
Certainly Worth a View for those that are Attracted to Real Life Scenarios Without a lot of Packaging and is a Somewhat Subtle Display of Repressed Emotions and a Depressing Existence. It is the Environment of an Abusive Family Life and a Cold Setting of a Sunless Beach and a Wintery Carnival that like the Humans that Inhabit are Distinctively Dislocated from a Friendly or Attractive Place that is Conducive for Thriving and Prospering.
Gandolfini made this film decent
dydascobusiness8 March 2021
First and foremost rest in piece James Gandolfini. You were a true actor that was dedicated from the start of your career to the finish. Now let's talk about Down The Shore.
Down the Shore is a slow burner yet with some promising touches of hope, connectivity, and light. I don't understand why IMBD mentioned this as a "thriller"? Maybe some parts seem a little -Mystic River- 'noir', but nothing over the top. It's pure drama with a tad bit of suspense with a mediocre plot twist, BUT, Bailey (James Gandolfini) keeps it rolling.
Give the film some time my IMBD friends.
Overall... ehh. It's okay. Nothing "new" but decent!
Down the Shore is a slow burner yet with some promising touches of hope, connectivity, and light. I don't understand why IMBD mentioned this as a "thriller"? Maybe some parts seem a little -Mystic River- 'noir', but nothing over the top. It's pure drama with a tad bit of suspense with a mediocre plot twist, BUT, Bailey (James Gandolfini) keeps it rolling.
Give the film some time my IMBD friends.
Overall... ehh. It's okay. Nothing "new" but decent!
DTS - Dang That Sucked
jjccpa19 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
God this was awful. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I kept fast forwarding 30 seconds at a time. And I'd hit play, it was still on the same boring scene and nothing changed. This movie could have been a 20 minute short story and it still would have been horribly slow. Let me save you the time. I'd say "spoiler" alert, but watching it would spoil 1 hour and 32 minutes of your life. Tony Soprano grew a beard and dresses like a ditsoon. His sister went to Paris and married some douche that cranks a carousel in 5 minutes cause she was dying of cancer. She leaves the douche half the house she was sharing with her brother, Tony Soprano in a Cart-hart hoodie. Tony though he killed his friends father but his friend actually did it. And he has been blackmailing Tony into sticking around and supporting his crack habit. At the end, the French douchebag is told by the crackhead that ditsoon style Tony only graised his father with the bullet and it was actually his crackhead self who killed him. The French douche gives Tony a bag of money and he drives off with the crack head's wife and retarded son. The end.
Oh poor me
ipetro-2058012 September 2018
When a movie starts like this one, then you know you're in for a lot of nonsense. So... a guy named Jacques, who's supposed to be French but barely speaks French... And the rest of the movie is just depressing drama where you watch grown people play with their belly-buttons (figuratively speaking). I mean, really ? Who cares ? Don't people have enough of other people's lives around them ? Do they really have to look for more in movies ?..
Well, i guess i'd swallow anything just to see and hear Tony Soprano once again. And i did !
Childhood Scars, Adult Disambiguation
gradyharp14 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
DOWN THE SHORE is one of those little sensitive films that seems like it is lightweight until the secrets of the story begin to leak. It is a film about thwarted human relations that have a core of ill-define tragic misconceptions. It is well written (by Sandra Jennings), well directed (by Harold Guskin) and happens to provide a showcase for some inordinately gifted actors who usually are not given the attention they deserve.
The film opens in Paris where a handsome Jacques (the very impressive Italian actor Edoardo Costa) is cranking a carousel for children in a little park. Observing him is a winsome Susan (Maria Dizzia) who speaks no French but in a rare moment of instant chemical gaze we can see that she and Jacques connect. Susan hires Jacques to be her guide while she is in Paris - and then we see them no more. The scene changes to 3 months later when Jacques comes to Susan's home in New Jersey, meets her brother Bailey (a brilliant role for James Gandolfini), informs Bailey that Susan is dead, and gives Bailey a letter and Susan's ashes and informs Bailey that he and Susan were married in France: the letter confirms that Jacques is to own half of Susan's house which she shared with Bailey and Jacques suggests he and Bailey be partners. Bailey runs a small carnival park on the Jersey shore and Jacques is able to help him bring life back into the children's rides.
The other part of the story concerns Mary (Famke Janssen in excellent form) who is Bailey's childhood sweetheart but now married to Bailey's best friend, the covertly abusive crack addict Wiley (Joe Pope) who happens to own the little carnival park where Bailey works. Some talk between the two men suggests that their fathers were bad men but Wiley inherited his father's wealth and park and married Mary with whom he had a mentally challenged son Martin (John Magaro) while Bailey has remained single living with his sister Susan. The secrets of why Wiley is addicted to crack and physically abuses Mary while Bailey seems to do nothing about the woman he still loves is brought into focus by the wise Jacques, the one person who seems to be adjusted and happy despite his wife's recent death from cancer. In talks with both Bailey and Wiley, Jacques uncovers the horrid secrets that have bruised everyone's lives and what those secrets mean, and how the story works out must be withheld until the viewer experiences this film.
A stronger cast could not be imagined for this well written, well-directed film. The degree of identification with absolutely every character in the film is truly remarkable. This is a tale of the maladaptation to secrets of the past. And one of the many beauties of the film is the manner in which much is left unresolved or unsaid at the end.
Grady Harp
The film opens in Paris where a handsome Jacques (the very impressive Italian actor Edoardo Costa) is cranking a carousel for children in a little park. Observing him is a winsome Susan (Maria Dizzia) who speaks no French but in a rare moment of instant chemical gaze we can see that she and Jacques connect. Susan hires Jacques to be her guide while she is in Paris - and then we see them no more. The scene changes to 3 months later when Jacques comes to Susan's home in New Jersey, meets her brother Bailey (a brilliant role for James Gandolfini), informs Bailey that Susan is dead, and gives Bailey a letter and Susan's ashes and informs Bailey that he and Susan were married in France: the letter confirms that Jacques is to own half of Susan's house which she shared with Bailey and Jacques suggests he and Bailey be partners. Bailey runs a small carnival park on the Jersey shore and Jacques is able to help him bring life back into the children's rides.
The other part of the story concerns Mary (Famke Janssen in excellent form) who is Bailey's childhood sweetheart but now married to Bailey's best friend, the covertly abusive crack addict Wiley (Joe Pope) who happens to own the little carnival park where Bailey works. Some talk between the two men suggests that their fathers were bad men but Wiley inherited his father's wealth and park and married Mary with whom he had a mentally challenged son Martin (John Magaro) while Bailey has remained single living with his sister Susan. The secrets of why Wiley is addicted to crack and physically abuses Mary while Bailey seems to do nothing about the woman he still loves is brought into focus by the wise Jacques, the one person who seems to be adjusted and happy despite his wife's recent death from cancer. In talks with both Bailey and Wiley, Jacques uncovers the horrid secrets that have bruised everyone's lives and what those secrets mean, and how the story works out must be withheld until the viewer experiences this film.
A stronger cast could not be imagined for this well written, well-directed film. The degree of identification with absolutely every character in the film is truly remarkable. This is a tale of the maladaptation to secrets of the past. And one of the many beauties of the film is the manner in which much is left unresolved or unsaid at the end.
Grady Harp
Down the Shore is more like down in the dumps
jordondave-2808527 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
(2013) Down The Shore
DRAMA
James Gandolfini is a great actor and this movie shows it. However, the end of movie doesn't know how to maintain the story's rhythm. He plays Baily Julia who while working as a maintenance on a nearly run down amusement park, gets a visit from a French guy named Jacques (Edoardo Costa) from Paris claiming to be his sister's husband. The reason for Jacques visit was to notify him that his sister had just recently died from cancer, and that he was instructed to give Baily her ashes along with a letter. Jacques who also accepts the name Jack other reason to visit Baily was to work alongside with Baily, which he doesn't really want to do. And as the movie is progressing, we get to hear more surprising revelations about Baily as well as the owner of the amusement park, by the name of Wiley (Joseph Pope) and the woman who is kind of caught in the middle by the name of Mary (Famke Janssen) trying to raise their mentally challenged 17 year old son, Martin (John Magaro). Some of the existing problems is that viewers may be baffled about Jacques motivations for hanging around with a brother-in-law who initially despises him. Baily does bother him about a load of money that his sister was supposed to have we're somehow kept in the dark about how Jacques even acquired the money in the first place. And what was Jacques motivations for hanging onto this money for such a long time, for the movie kind of make Jacques into an artificial character who has a knack to get people to expose their private secrets. And it is for that reason and more which is why I can't recommend it despite it's good intentions.
James Gandolfini is a great actor and this movie shows it. However, the end of movie doesn't know how to maintain the story's rhythm. He plays Baily Julia who while working as a maintenance on a nearly run down amusement park, gets a visit from a French guy named Jacques (Edoardo Costa) from Paris claiming to be his sister's husband. The reason for Jacques visit was to notify him that his sister had just recently died from cancer, and that he was instructed to give Baily her ashes along with a letter. Jacques who also accepts the name Jack other reason to visit Baily was to work alongside with Baily, which he doesn't really want to do. And as the movie is progressing, we get to hear more surprising revelations about Baily as well as the owner of the amusement park, by the name of Wiley (Joseph Pope) and the woman who is kind of caught in the middle by the name of Mary (Famke Janssen) trying to raise their mentally challenged 17 year old son, Martin (John Magaro). Some of the existing problems is that viewers may be baffled about Jacques motivations for hanging around with a brother-in-law who initially despises him. Baily does bother him about a load of money that his sister was supposed to have we're somehow kept in the dark about how Jacques even acquired the money in the first place. And what was Jacques motivations for hanging onto this money for such a long time, for the movie kind of make Jacques into an artificial character who has a knack to get people to expose their private secrets. And it is for that reason and more which is why I can't recommend it despite it's good intentions.
Can't get this out of my mind
cruff19 May 2014
Excellent. It is rare to see a film that is so unassuming and yet has the stuff that makes me want to be there- know more about it- want to see more- hear more. I know these people- Some of this story resonates like it happened in my life. It didn't have to be Gandolfini and Janssen- It could have been any of a hundred actors handling those parts. But seeing these great people on the screen really makes this movie even greater for me. I don't think I am steering you wrong to award this fine movie 8 of 10. I believe it is worth every point. And, yes, the writer doesn't tell you everything. Like so many other great movies a lot remains unsaid. I hope you enjoy it like I have.
A small, bleak but outstanding drama with great performances
MattyGibbs8 June 2014
Down the Shore is a small drama that soars way above your expectations. It concerns 3 childhood friends living in a small town whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a stranger comes to visit.
It takes it time to set up the premise by which time you get to know the characters involved. With a smart script, it sucks you in and you quickly get involved in the lives of the characters. It never goes where you think it will and the acting throughout is just superb by all members of the talented cast. The sadly deceased James Gandolfino puts in a towering performance as a man tortured by the past. There is a melancholy air throughout the film accentuated by a sparse and bleak landscape.
This is an intelligent film that deserves a much wider audience and is well worth seeking out.
It takes it time to set up the premise by which time you get to know the characters involved. With a smart script, it sucks you in and you quickly get involved in the lives of the characters. It never goes where you think it will and the acting throughout is just superb by all members of the talented cast. The sadly deceased James Gandolfino puts in a towering performance as a man tortured by the past. There is a melancholy air throughout the film accentuated by a sparse and bleak landscape.
This is an intelligent film that deserves a much wider audience and is well worth seeking out.
Wonderful...but ignore the plot holes
jaynea3825 May 2015
I love James Gandolfini and this little movie showed me why. In Down the Shore he is a sad, lonely man disappointed in what life has handed him and yet powerless to change anything. The bleak setting of the shore in winter, a broken down amusement park and the tiny run down houses (although the house weirdly gets bigger and nicer as the film goes on), produce an almost claustrophobic feeling to the film. Everyone before has said it..its beautifully acted and filmed. But afterwards I kept asking myself questions in the plot that were never fully explained. I gave it an 8 because it's a beautiful well crafted film...but flawed.
Slow, but a very good film
kastellos20 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I fully admit my tastes are different from the norm. How IMDb reviewers can rate this film at 5.8 while giving such junk as Snatch and all that horrible Tarantino crap (Django Unchained 8.5 ?????, Grindhouse 7.7 ????, Dusk to Dawn 7.3 ????, etc.) such high scores is amazing.
This film is slow, but is very well acted, especially by Gandolfini, Janssen and Magaro. The story at first seems "pushed" but soon as the characters are developed you come to see these as real people with real issues (unlike the nonsense of most all of Tarantino's junk). Although slow, the plot moves along well and ends with a nice conclusion. Lastly, the cinematography develops the mood of the film and the dying (at least in winter) of the old Jersey shore perfectly.
If you have to see multiple senseless killings with a 100+ decibel score, then skip this film, but if you want to see a well acted film about people, then I recommend Down the Shore.
This film is slow, but is very well acted, especially by Gandolfini, Janssen and Magaro. The story at first seems "pushed" but soon as the characters are developed you come to see these as real people with real issues (unlike the nonsense of most all of Tarantino's junk). Although slow, the plot moves along well and ends with a nice conclusion. Lastly, the cinematography develops the mood of the film and the dying (at least in winter) of the old Jersey shore perfectly.
If you have to see multiple senseless killings with a 100+ decibel score, then skip this film, but if you want to see a well acted film about people, then I recommend Down the Shore.
Much better than Ratings
robert-lytton9 March 2021
A sometimes charming, sometimes suspenseful movie with great performances and decent dialog. The scenes are striking, the storyline holds your attention and my rule is that any movie with the incomparable JG is at least tolerable. Check it out if you have the time.
It was an interesting independent movie
bbfrmrp15 December 2021
It was a really interesting movie. James Gandofini did a great job. So did the rest of the cast. It is sad that not a lot of people got to see it. I have read about the Jersey Shore but i have never seen it.
I guess everyone makes movies that go to video right away The kid did a great job.
I guess everyone makes movies that go to video right away The kid did a great job.
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