Plot
Vincent Lamarca, whose father was executed for a 1950s kidnapping of a child, grew up to become a police officer, only to see his own son become a murderer.

Release Year: 2002

Rating: 6.1/10 (15,420 voted)

Critic's Score: 50/100

Director: Michael Caton-Jones

Stars: Robert De Niro, James Franco, Frances McDormand

Storyline
New York City homicide detective Vincent LaMarca has forged a long and distinguished career in law enforcement, making a name for himself as a man intensely committed to his work. But on his latest case, the stakes are higher for Vincent--the suspect he's investigating is his own son. He and Joey have been painfully estranged ever since Vincent divorced his wife and left the decaying boardwalks of Long Beach, Long Island for the anonymity of Manhattan and a successful career with the NYPD. He lives his life in solitude, keeping his girlfriend at arm's length; the closest relationship he maintains is with his partner, Reg--and Vincent makes sure that stops at the precinct door. As long as Vincent lives in the protection of the present, he doesn't have to deal with the pain of his past--or his sorrow over his broken relationship with Joey. But this murder investigation is drawing Vincent home to Long Beach...

Writers: Mike McAlary, Ken Hixon

Cast:
Robert De Niro - Vincent LaMarca
Frances McDormand - Michelle
James Franco - Joey
Eliza Dushku - Gina
William Forsythe - Spyder
Patti LuPone - Maggie (as Patti Lupone)
Anson Mount - Dave Simon
John Doman - Henderson
Brian Tarantina - Snake
Drena De Niro - Vanessa Hansen
Michael P. Moran - Herb
Nestor Serrano - Rossi
Matthew Cowles - Arnie
Linda Emond - Margery
Cyrus Farmer - Carl

Taglines: When you're searching for a killer... the last suspect you want to see is your son.

Official Website: Warner Bros [uk] | Warner Bros. [United States] - trailer, synopsis |

Release Date: 6 September 2002

Filming Locations: Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $8,935,426 (USA) (8 September 2002) (2575 Screens)

Gross: $22,433,915 (USA) (10 November 2002)

Runtime: 108 min

Trivia:
Michael Caton-Jones was unhappy with the final result and said that working on this film for 3 years was the worst and most depressing period of his career.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When they find Picasso killed, they take the money out of his jacket. The cop says there is nothing larger than a 20, and there is 4,000 dollars. Yet the wad is tiny and if it were small bills, might make up three hundred bucks at the most.

Quotes:
Spyder: [to Gina at the drive-thru speaker] I'll have a bacon cheeseburger and a blowjob.

Underrated Drama

Rating: 9/10

This is a very good movie. I do not understand why so many of the comments here are negative. The plot is great with no holes. The characters are well developed and the acting is top notch. Maybe the lack of computer animation or computer generated special effects or car chases or machine guns blazing away turned some of you off. If you like dramas that are heavy on acting and character development, you will like this movie. The filming locations are very fascinating too. I am not sure where the boardwalk scenes are filmed (Asbury NJ or Yonkers NY) but it looks just like a formerly popular beach front local, that is now a ghost town. Very underrated by the IMDb voters.

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