City by the Sea

Synopsis: 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, the self-proclaimed City by the Sea, where the past has been waiting for him to r
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Michael Caton-Jones
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.1
Metacritic:
50
Rotten Tomatoes:
47%
R
Year:
2002
108 min
$22,369,941
Website
362 Views


What's up? You guys

want to buy this guitar? $50.

- Fender Hollow Body.

- I don't play.

Come on, you'll be like Chuck Berry.

Twenty dollars. Twenty dollars.

- You want to buy a guitar?

- No.

For your brother? Your son?

Order up.

Hey, Arnie.

- Hey, Joey, how you doing?

- Good.

- Hey, look, you want to buy a guitar?

- I got one.

All right. Then do me a favor.

Will you loan me $20?

I don't think so.

I got an idea, man. Why don't you

keep the guitar until I pay you back?

- That way you're safe.

- I'm not a pawnshop.

Arnie, please, man.

I just need to get straight here.

What you need, you don't pay for.

You got to pray for it.

Arnie, I don't need a f***ing sermon

right now, okay? I need to get well.

All right?

Man, you know how it is. Right?

Please.

You're in for a real

f***ing treat now, man.

You're lucky you caught me

because this is my last bag.

All right, Snake, let me see the sh*t.

Here.

- This is all you got?

- It's enough, it's 90% pure.

Where you gonna find 90% pure?

I know a guy's got a shitload of it.

Picasso. You want me to hook you

up with him, you just say the word.

Yeah, baby, here we go.

Hey, where's this Picasso at?

There he is.

My man, Picasso.

What did I tell you, man?

- You stay here, all right?

- Yeah.

Picasso, my man.

How you doing, man?

Can I get two, okay?

- Let me pay you tomorrow.

- No, man. No f***ing way.

Come on, man.

You know I'm good for it.

- Pay me now, motherf***er.

- You know I'm good for it!

I'm gonna f***ing cut you!

F***!

Give me that!

Sh*t!

We gotta get rid of him!

Let's dump him in the river!

His body will wash out to the ocean.

Come on, man. Help me out here.

F***.

What?

Joey?

Joey, is that you?

Joey!

- How did you get in, did you bust the door?

- No, I didn't bust the door.

What are you doing? I won't have drugs

in this house. Get it out of here!

- Joey, what happened?

- I got in a fight, that's all.

- With who?

- I don't know. It doesn't matter.

The f***er pulled a knife on me,

so I got the f*** out of there.

- When are you gonna learn?

- I have learned.

I am tired of it, okay?

I am f***ing tired of it.

I know I got to stop this sh*t.

- You heard it all before, right?

- More than once.

- Ma, I'm trying to talk to you here.

- Do you wanna talk?

Here's a quarter. Call your father.

Tell him you've changed.

I don't know why I f***ing bother.

So tell me, what makes this time

different from all the other times?

Because the only difference I ever see

is my money or my jewelry are missing.

This is different.

If I don't stop this sh*t,

I am gonna die.

I know you heard it before,

but I'm tired of it.

You know, if I can get away,

maybe I could just clean up.

I don't know, I'll go some

place like Key West.

Do you remember when

we went to Key West?

Yeah.

That was a fun vacation.

I know.

The drug counselor says I'm not

allowed to give you money.

Ma, I don't want your money.

I just want you

to believe me this time.

- You don't believe me.

- No, Joey, listen-

That's all right. I gotta go.

- No, Joey. No. Joey, no.

- Ma, I gotta go.

LaMarca. Hello?

Hello?

Who is this?

You must have something to say.

Hello?

Well, I was here.

You missed a chance for a good talk.

It's the middle of the night.

Talk to me or get off the phone.

Vincent, is that you?

Michelle, sorry.

I thought it was a nut calling.

The thunder woke me up.

You watching the storm?

Yeah. You want company?

Be right down.

I think we ought to put a hole

in your floor and get a fire pole.

You got a thing for firemen?

- Cops.

- Cops?

Good, I'm a cop.

Prove it.

I'll show you my...

...badge.

No.

Okay, Reg. I got 6:17 a. m.

and we're on the scene.

They had to beep us at this hour?

The recently deceased would've waited.

You got the tide. Another hour,

the tide's gonna pull him to Jersey.

Jesus, he looks like

a f***ing human comic book.

- Where's the medical examiner?

- Late. As usual.

I'm not waiting. We better start

before the tide gets him.

No ligature marks.

- Some bruises and contusions.

- Look at this.

Bingo.

Let's see what we got here.

Guy was in a fight.

Look at the defensive wounds.

- Ones. Fives. 20's the largest in here.

- Jesus.

This is 3000, 4000 bucks.

He's a f***ing dealer.

They went after his dope

instead of his cash.

Good morning.

So this is the guest of honor?

- Where you been?

- Don't give me any sh*t, Reg.

I had to jerk off twice this morning

just to get my heart started.

Here we are. Robert Monroe.

414 Seacrest Drive, Long Beach.

Long Beach:
The city by the sea.

You know this guy?

It's been a long time,

but I wouldn't have forgotten him.

This gonna be a problem for you,

Vince, driving out there?

When I was a kid,

everything was new.

- Everybody just bought their first car.

- Their first wife.

Now, it looks like

the Serbian army came through.

- Must've been a real nice place.

- It was.

I'm here to see Lieutenant Katt.

- Vincent LaMarca.

- Sam, how are you?

- My partner, Reg Duffy. Sam Katt.

- Sit down. Sit down.

Putting on a little weight

sitting behind that desk.

- What brings you back to Long Beach?

- We got a floater. Robert Monroe, 25.

Probably a street dealer.

414 Seacrest. Got anything on him?

- We can do a run on him.

- Spelled M-O-N-R-O-E?

Right.

- Lieutenant?

- Dave Simon. He sits at your desk.

- Hi, Dave.

- Reg Duffy.

I thought you'd be retired.

You got the time.

And do what?

I never learned anything else.

- It's a bullshit job. It is.

- He doesn't believe that.

Sure, there are better-paid gigs,

but I wouldn't give up my job.

Bullshit.

- It's their favorite word in Manhattan.

- He never used to talk like that.

This was paradise.

I thought I could fool myself.

Why did you leave?

He's got a lot of trespasses,

burglaries and assaults.

He did six months on Rikers Island

for misdemeanor possession.

His alias is Picasso.

Well, Sam, thanks.

It was good to see you.

It was good out here for a while.

- Nice to meet you.

- Thanks.

- Good to meet you.

- Hey, Vince. Come back anytime.

That didn't go too bad.

- He seemed okay.

- Yeah. Katt's one of the good guys.

Never f*** with a family of cops,

they don't forget.

Come over this Sunday.

Marge thinks you don't like her no more.

- I love Marge.

- It's the kids, then? Little bastards.

No, the kids are great.

Respectful. Well-behaved. Not like you.

But- You got a lot

of love in your house.

When I go there, I feel uncomfortable.

- But thanks for the invitation.

- Suit yourself.

You'll miss it when it's gone.

- Sweetheart, give me a cup of coffee.

- Coming right up.

- Hey, Snake.

- Spyder.

- Want to lend me some money?

- What?

What gives you the idea I got money?

Did you hear? Some whacko f***

wasted Picasso last night.

They cut him up. They found his body

in the city, by the river.

- That's bad, man.

- Here you go.

So I hear you and Joey

went shopping last night.

I hear Joey Nova's Chevy Nova

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Ken Hixon

Ken Hixon is a screenwriter whose films include Welcome to the Rileys, City by the Sea, Inventing the Abbotts, Incident at Deception Ridge, Morgan Stewart's Coming Home, and Grandview, U.S.A.. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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