If it weren’t for Andy Garcia’s compassionate and charming performance, City Island may very well have been another slapstick comedy/melodrama about a dysfunctional family. In fact, the supporting characters, who were not always given the best material to work with, delivered as well (sort of appropriate in a film that deals with a prison guard- sorry, correctional officer- who tries to pursue an acting career). Certain subplots were a little far fetched and seemed to be in place only to heighten the family’s dysfunction. I’m mostly thinking of the story line of Garcia’s son’s character, who has a fetish for obese women. The film serves up a slew of intertwining familial problems that build well but unfortunately culminate in an all-too-tightly-rapped ending. All in all, I was thoroughly entertained despite some of those shortcomings.
Not long ago, I saw another Andy Garcia film called Black Rain, so I figured I’d devote this post to this outstanding thesp. One tagline for a Black Rain poster reads: “An American cop in Japan. Their Country. Their laws. Their game. His rules.” Aaand that just about sums up the plot. Michael Douglas plays a hard nosed New York cop who wants nothing more than to stick it to the man (he is perpetually reminding us how much he hates “suits” and anyone who wears them) and ride his motorcycle of justice. Andy Garcia plays his affable and unflinchingly optimistic sidekick whose affability and optimism get him quite flinchingly dead. When a Japanese crime boss is extradited back to Japan, Douglas and Garcia must accompany him, but when he manages to get free upon landing, their little vacation turns into a nationwide manhunt. Despite an awesomely 80’s, Oscar nominated score by Hans Zimmer, the film is a perfect example of Hollywood racism. The film makes Japan’s entire legal system and law enforcement establishment out to be utterly incompetent. Ultimately, they need a white man, Douglas, to come in and do what the entire country of Japan could not- stop corruption and put Sato, the evil bloody thirsty gangster, away.
Ummmm did you know: “García was born Andrés Arturo García Menéndez in Havana, Cuba, with a dead conjoined twin on his left shoulder, which was later surgically removed.”
