City Island

Prior to watching City Island, I had only associated the word "Botero" with the Columbian abstract artist known for drawing corpulent figures. Never would it have occurred to me to associate it with feeder fetishists; that is, people sexually aroused by watching obese women eat, and who get pleasure from feeding them fatty foods. This is just one of the many secrets that the Rizzo family hide from each other, all smoking in private and masking any perceived aberrant behaviours with an argumentative nature and surly demeanour. Vince Jr. (Ezra Miller) is the aforementioned fat fetishist, stealing his mom's credit card to pay for a webcam feed of his 350-pound neighbour explicitly eating. Vince Sr. (Andy Garcia) tells the family he's off playing poker, when really he's taking acting classes and hanging out with the whimsical, British Molly (Emily Mortimer). Working as a prison guard by day, he brings home his long lost son as part of a reform program, not telling said son, or his family, who he really is, prompting his frustrated wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) to strike up an inappropriate flirtation. Meanwhile, daughter Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) moonlights as a stripper to pay for college. Unsurprisingly, this is an actor's piece with a clever, acerbic script backing it up. The relevance of the title ― City Island: a pseudo-getaway for residents of the Bronx ― is debatable and may have something to do with its oxymoronic phrasing. Nevertheless, what is relevant are the solid performances and consistently clever and amusing dialogue, which compensate for the airly lacklustre direction and a finale that stems mostly from writing oneself into a corner. The commentary track with producer/star Andy Garcia and director Raymond De Felitta elaborates somewhat on intentions versus reality, as does the "Dinner with the Rizzos" supplement, wherein the gang discuss eating potatoes and pasta on set. Yep.