City by the Sea
City by the Sea Image
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Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 18 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Frances McDormand, James Franco, Robert De Niro
  • Summary: The gripping story of a dedicated police officer who discovers that the chief suspect in his current murder investigation is his own son. (Warner Bros.)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 34
  3. Negative: 3 out of 34
  1. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    80
    For the first time in years, De Niro digs deep emotionally, perhaps because he's been stirred by the powerful work of his co-stars, including a subtle Frances McDormand and a ferocious Patti LuPone, as well as the heartbreaking (and achingly beautiful) Franco.
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    Not an extraordinary movie. In its workmanship it aspires not to be remarkable but to be well made, dependable, moving us because of the hurt in the hero's eyes.
  3. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Collin Levey
    60
    Notwithstanding a thin script and a color-by-numbers ending, the movie is redeemed by its solid performances.
    All this publication's reviews
  4. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    30
    The role plays all too easily into De Niro's worst current habits. He's dulled himself out in the service of a phony kitchen-sink pseudo-realism. For De Niro, less has become less.

See all 34 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 15
  3. Negative: 2 out of 15
  1. JohnN.
    9
    I thought this was a beautifully constructed movie; a gripping story, great casting and understandably strong performances. Notably, I welcomed the minimal use of music to tell me how I should feel; the script and performances were largely left to stand on their strengths. It's a mystery to me that this movie had such poor reviews, although perhaps it suited the DVD medium on which we viewed it. Highly recommended.… Expand
  2. Mr-Liberal-LDS
    4
    Imagine eating five or six pieces of toast as a meal, wouldn't you be left feeling like, "Is this it?!?" It isn't that there is anything wrong with toast, but piece after piece it wouldn't make for much of a meal in it of itself. In the same way, City by the Sea just didn't leave me satisfied. It wasn't that there was anything blaringly wrong with it, but it never presented any interesting flavors to savor; it just bored me. Things picked up later in the movie, and I did like the poignancy of the ending, but I just didn't think it was worth the wait to get there. The trailer makes it look like an edge of your seat thriller it is not.… Expand

See all 15 User Reviews

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