Category Archives: 2010 theater reviews

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City Island

City Island is a good movie that could have been great if it didn’t spend so much time getting in its own way.

A cousin to Moonstruck, the film follows a quirky Italian-American family living on City Island, an old-fashioned fishing village nestled in the Bronx. That setting is one of the most interesting aspects of the movie… it’s strange and wonderful to see a cluster of fishing boats against a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. I had no idea such a place existed.

Andy Garcia plays paterfamilias Vince Rizzo, a corrections officer who prefers not to be called a prison guard. His wife Joyce is played by the wonderful Julianna Margulies, a long way from ER and The Good Wife. Their teenage children are portrayed by Dominik García-Lorido (Garcia’s real-life daughter) and Ezra Miller.

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Iron Man 2

You don’t go into a movie like Iron Man 2 expecting greatness. It’s graded on a curve.

Does it make you laugh? Excite you? Show you things you haven’t seen before? Does it make for a diverting two hours away from the summer sun?

Iron Man 2 does most of those things but it doesn’t do much else. It’s a hodge-podge of ideas and characters that never coalesce into anything meaningful.

This isn’t always the case with sequels, particularly comic book sequels. Superman II raised the stakes of the first film, introduced three formidable villains and stripped Superman of his powers as it developed his relationship with Lois Lane. Spider-Man 2 was a major improvement on the first film, with Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus as the perfect foil for a maturing Peter Parker. And The Dark Knight built on the solid reboot of Batman Begins and, thanks in large part to Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as The Joker, emerged as a visionary masterpiece of a gothic crime movie.

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How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks Animation has thrived as a smart-ass, pop culture savvy alternative to more innocent kiddie fare. Many of the jokes in films such as Shrek and Madagascar are designed to fly right over children’s heads and get a few chuckles out of the adults forced to accompany them to the theater.

Contrast that to the films of Pixar, which are powerfully heartfelt and human (even when about toys, car or rats) and more interested in character development and story than in-jokes and alternative soundtracks.

There is certainly a place for the films produced by both of these studios, but when it comes to true quality, it’s no contest.

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Date Night

I haven’t written about Date Night since seeing it for one simple reason: I agree entirely with just about every review of it I’ve read.

Here we have two of our funniest, most interesting and appealing actors paired up with a script that is only occasionally worthy of their talents. At times the film broaches themes and topics that feel fresh but it quickly devolves back into a slapstick action comedy padded with pointless chase scenes.

But despite those flaws, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey bring so much good will to the table that you can’t help but root for them, and therefore for the movie. So it’s pretty tough to dislike Date Night even as it lets you down for not being what it could have been.

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