Rating: 
Summary: an ok drama with dry climaxes
Review: Robert DeNiro and James Franco make this movie work, with son accused of killiing a cop and a father who wants to bring in his son alive and not dead. the end is washedout and leaves no suspense(when DeNiro gets shot in the back). but in the end is works out and its a great view. Eliza Dushku is great also as Franco's wife and McDormand is added nicely in as Franco's momma
Rating: 
Summary: Long , Dull, Slow, and Ultimately Boring
Review: This movie never really gets off the ground. In its effort to develop the characters, it moves at a snail's pace with no significant action. The whole mood of the movie is utterly depressive and the dialogue is monotone.The plot involves Robert DeNiro playing a seasoned cop who starts investigating the homicide of a drug pusher. He soon finds that his estranged son in the prime suspect in the homicide and is brought back into the torments of his failed family life. Yes, the movie does touch upon a failed father's attempt to show his son that he's looking out for him but, with that low-life heroin fiend son of his, you wonder: why? The son is portrayed as such a pathetic loser that the film simply evokes no sympathy for him. I came out feeling more for Robert DeNiro's character in having to accept his conception of such a pathetic wretch for a son. Altogether a very forgettable film that perhaps would have been better as a book or one of those cheesy made-for-tv "Lifetime" films.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Powerful, Emotional, Disturbing Yet Touching Film
Review: The story is set in Long Beach(part of New York) known as the city by the sea. But now it's an unused left to waste zone riddled with drug addicts and criminals.
Raised in Long Beach, detective Vincent La Marca(De Niro) left his hometown for Manhattan to forget about his painful past were his own father was executed for a an awful kidnapping and now Vincents son is the main suspect in a street murder and Vincent is sadly the one assigned to hunt him down and bring him in.
Based on a disturbing true story, Robert De Niro(detective, Frances McDormand(detectives girlfriend not exwife) and talented newcomer James Franco(green goblin in Spiderman) deliver outstanding performances in this stunningly realised film. The performance of the film was terrific, Robert De Niro acted very well as a detective. De Niro could really act how he felt in this emotional movie and Frances McDorman acted very good as De Niro's girlfriend, her body language was great and she expressed her feeling for De Niro very well. The main suprise in the film in my opinion is the acting by James Franco. I thought James Franco acted very well as a drug addict and he may have acted the best in this film. The scene i thought which had the best acting was the scene near the end where De Niro was being very emotional towards his own son. The ending shall be left a secret, it is there if you watch the movie. (highly recomended) 9/10
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of DeNiro's Better offerings
Review: I missed the cinematic release of this movie, and really rushed to view it on DVD when released, after seeing the trailers. Sadly for me the concept of the film and script seemed to part company after about a third of the way in, and began to point toward an all too predictable ending. DeNiro plays a street wise, tough respected cop of many years, who reflects with melancholy on the demise of his childhood vacations, and home life in the title location, now turned into a run down haven for drug addicts, bums and criminals. A long standing divorce and estranged son, add to his already overburdened lack of inner peace along with the revelations of his fathers criminal past, played in flashback sequences. The movie revolves around these attempted sub plots, and his lack of knowledge about his sons fall from high school football hero to petty thief and drug addict. The two inevitably cross paths when the son is accused of a murder, and the investigation falls under the auspices of DeNiro and his long time partner. DeNiro must then juggle his loyalties whilst upholding his beliefs, and attempt to seek the truth at all costs. Sound's great, doesn't it? - well I thought so too, until about half way into the picture, when I found myself really not caring about it all, and just watching for the sake of it. Like so many great actors, DeNiro really should find solid material these days, instead of just churning out "formula" like this, Not an awful movie by any means, but rent before you buy!
Rating: 
Summary: Sins of the fathers
Review: Robert De Niro plays a policeman who is haunted by his father's
execution and by his own role in deserting his wife and son. He tries to compensate by being the best cop he can be, but has to face up to the fact that his son's drug problems seem to stem from the lack of a fatherly presence in his life. When the son is in the wrong place at the wrong time, he commits murder, and the father has no choice but to pursue him. De Niro shows his conflicting emotions in a way that only he can and goes through a moral dilemma of loyalty to his son versus loyalty to his job. The acting is good and the premise is an interesting one. The ending, however, does not live up to the rest of the movie and seems just too easy.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of touching, but slow at times.
Review: Summary:
The men in the LaMarca family have a pretty rough record. Angelo, Vincent's father (Robert De Niro), was electrocuted for the death of a small child he kidnapped for ransom. Vincent left his young son and wife when a heated argument turned into violence. Now Vincent's son, Joey (James Franco), has become a dopehead and murderer. Vincent has to overcome his fear of loss to ultimately reach out to his son and help him from losing the people that he cares about. My Comments:
I thought this was a pretty good movie. It kind of goes without saying that De Niro was good, he's always good. But the rest of the cast wasn't bad. They carried their weight and James Franco was actually pretty good, though not stellar. The story was convincing; it doesn't require a major suspension of belief, though Joey definitely is at the bottom of the bucket and can't really get much lower. Sure, there are a few parts that are a bit over the top, but for the most part the storyline is believable. There were just two parts to the entire movie that I really felt were flawed - when Vincent took the bullet for Joey (a sniper's bullet would have taken his arm off) and when Joey told Vincent that he loved him through the rear window of the police cruiser (just didn't work very well). Of course, there were the 'set-up' plot points, like Joey stealing the gun just before Spyder (William Forsythe) comes after him, and Reg (George Dzundza) sticking his head where it doesn't belong, but overall the story wasn't that bad. The problem with the movie is that it's slow. The pacing could have been improved, especially during the thirty minutes or so after the initial murder took place. I also thought the relationship between Vincent and Michelle (Frances McDormand) could have been better explored. The ending of the movie was also kind of unsatisfying because you don't ultimately know what happens to everyone except Joey, Vincent, and Little Angelo. Michelle is definitely a major character in the movie, and so is Gina (Eliza Dushku) and Maggie (Patti LuPone), Joey's mother. The movie ends up being pretty touching, but it kind of takes a while to get there. It doesn't really keep your attention throughout, but you're kind of glad that you watched it when it's over because it leaves you on a positive, self-reflecting note. The final scene is really touching, in large part thanks to De Niro. So, if you're a De Niro fan, you'll want to see this one. If you have issues with your father, this may be a good film for you to see too. Keep in mind that it is a little slow, but it does eventually get there.
Rating:
Summary: Which city by the sea?
Review: Anything with DeNiro is right up ther on my list and no matter how good or bad the reviews were, I knew I would see the movie. On a scale of 1-5, the movie itself was about a 3. The overall story was good. The acting was great. The one flaw that dropped the movie from a 4-5 star to a 3 was the direction and production. This movie falsely portrayed the city in which it was set. It is not until the very, very, very end- after all the credits and music notes and year of filming that it is revealed that the movie is not, in any part, filmed in Long Beach. I would have enjoyed the movie much more had I not known the truth about Long Beach. I have lived here all my life and know that nothing was accurately presented in the movie. The city was portrayed as a slum. Had the actual setting of the true story been revealed, the movie would have taken on another angle. So, is the movie worth watching? Yes, it is. Is it true to life and factual? Does it present the whole story? No As biased as the reviewer may be, he still recognizes a good movie, albeit, a flawed cinematographic layout. Watch the movie if you like crime drama and a good story. Don't watch it if you are planning on researching a summer vacation.
Rating:
Summary: Honestly...
Review: This movie had its originality. Robert De Niro is a detective trying to solve a murder case, unfortunately suspected to be caused by his own son. The main focus in this movie is not exactly the 'action' the audiences were looking for. It was not much of a cop-and-car-chase kind of movie. And not quite a solve or unsolved mystery thriller either. It was generally a drama about the relationship between father and son -- and the turmoils of abandonment (turning to drugs, having family insecurity, basically all of the above in the long list of tragic, weaker decisions in coping with family problems). In short, the essentials needed in order to make a decent film fit just fine. The 4 stars are given, only because the drama may have been much more felt if it had given the audience a better understanding of the characters and their development. The way De Niro leaves his family, and then becomes concerned for his son happened all too quickly. It seemed to have lacked something. I'm no Ebert, so I can't really put my thought on it. Then again it's just a movie. See it.
Rating:
Summary: Dull.
Review: Somehow this is less than the sum of its parts. Obviously you can't go wrong with DeNiro and Frances McDormand. The script is is fine. Asbury Park is as about as exciting as a Bruce Springsteen song. Its all there--but somehow its kinda pointless. Just slow and sad and dull. I guess reality isn't always more interesting than fiction.
Rating:
Summary: DeNiro is very good in a movie about family ties...
Review: Yep, it's sold as a cop movie, but ultimately the theme of this better-than-average movie is about the depth of family ties, especially between fathers and sons. DeNiro is a cop whose son is accused of murdering DeNiro's partner. Added to the drama is the fact that DeNiro's father, back in the 1950s, had kidnapped a child who smothered, and ultimately was executed in 1959 when DeNiro's character was 8. The question is: does criminal activity skip a generation. OK, OK, I won't give away the answer, but it's a good movie that ultimately is less about the cop story than about the emotional ties that bond fathers and sons (and grandsons) together. My only complaint is how the remarkable Frances McDormand was under-used in this movie. She plays DeNiro's downstairs neighbor/girlfriend who, as DeNiro grapples with his son's problems (including an, uh, unexpected package delivered by the son's ex-girlfriend), decides it's "too much" for her and simply walks out -- literally. We never see her again. C'mon, the guy's dealing with grief -- the loss of his partner and his son being charged for the partner's murder -- and McDormand just walks out after having been his girlfriend for over a year? McDormand could have been used better -- though of late she seems to have backed off from leading roles to supporting ones, such as Almost Famous. Ultimately, though, the movie is about DeNiro and though this won't rank as one of his greatest films, it is very good and certainly worth seeing.
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