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City by the Sea
(Reviewed August 8, 2002, by James Dawson)
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Can you say, "Deuces Wild 2?"
Robert Deniro is a cop whose father was executed for murder and whose junkie son is now on the lam for killing a dope dealer. Not a bad premise, I guess--but boy-oh-boy, is this ever a bad movie. That's "bad" as in "audience members laughing quite rudely during what are supposed to be touching scenes" bad.
James Franco, who plays Peter Parker's best friend in "Spider-Man," is nearly unrecognizable as the doper-on-the-run. Maybe that's because this movie was shot so long ago that it bears a 2001 copyright. (And yes, those are the Twin Towers you see in the backgrounds of two shots.) And folks, this flick didn't improve with age after being on the shelf that long.
Eliza Dushku is Franco's girlfriend, looking pretty yummy in way too much slutty eye makeup, but her clothes have a very frustrating way of remaining on her body throughout the film. And that accent! Everybody in this movie speaks with the kind of honking inflections that just might make everyone in America go back to hating New Yorkers all over again.
This is the kind of stupid movie in which a dope dealer in a car hands over the goods to a junkie BEFORE getting the guy's money, merely to set up a scene in which he has to get out of the car and fight to get his baggies back. And things go downhill from there.
It's definitely low tide in this "City by the Sea," because it stinks.
Back Row Grade: F
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