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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.Drama. When a respected New York homicide detective (Robert De Niro) discovers the prime suspect in a murder case is his estranged son (James Franco), he is forced to return home to the decaying boardwalks of Long Beach, Long Island to confront the darkness of his past. During the course of the investigation, he realizes that his failures as a father - and his unresolved anguish about the painful estrangement - have deeply influenced his son's life, and he must put his own life on the line in order to do right by both his family and his profession. A welcome throwback to the cop dramas of the '70s, City by the Sea is an average film ! improved by its cast. Robert De Niro stars as veteran New Jersey detective Vincent LaMarca, lamenting the once glorious Asbury Park boardwalk, now dilapidated from the decay of changing times. A good cop but a regrettable father, LaMarca must confront past mistakes and repressed memories when his estranged son (James Franco) becomes the prime suspect in the killing of LaMarca's partner (George Dzundza). There's a nagging inevitability to Ken Hixon's otherwise intelligent screenplay, but De Niro and Frances McDormand--as LaMarca's compassionate neighbor and part-time girlfriend--turn this simmering drama into something deeper than it is. McDormand's role would be thin without the depth and humanity she brings to it, and both De Niro and Franco mine gold from their troubling father-son legacy. Based on a true story, City by the Sea has that kernel of authenticity that good actors thrive on. --Jeff ShannonIt's said that the sins of the father are visited upon the! son, a theme that permeates this based-on-a-true-story cop fi! lm with a generational twist. Given the film's troubling emotional core and urban landscape, composer John Murphy scores it with remarkably eclectic panache. Starting with a somber, string-driven theme that subtly evokes the story's undercurrents of Greek tragedy, Murphy quickly draws upon everything from ska rhythms, Chopin piano pieces, house music, and even East Asian flourishes to bring its various emotional and cultural conflicts into focus. It's a score whose range and dynamic sense alone are impressive, but also one that never forgets where its heart lies. Murphy occasionally lapses into predictable action cues, but it's his evocative side excursions into the pop vernacular that balance the autumnal orchestral themes and impart the entire score with compelling new dimensions. It's a great example of how music can be more than merely the sum of its parts. --Jerry McCulley In this richly illustrated celebration of the nation's oldest seaside resort, Emil R. Salvini leads! the reader through Cape May's two hundred tumultuous years, which have forever earned it the moniker "Queen of the Seaside Resorts."

During its beginning as a coastal getaway not for New Jerseyans but for Philadelphians, middle-class families would endure the two-day journey to the site then known as Cape Island. With the advent of the steamboat and the railroad, the Cape became the premier destination for vacationers from surrounding areas.

In the 1880s, however, traffic slowed and the city entered a period of decline. Subsequent attempts at modernization failed, which actually saved the quaint wooden village that is visited by so many today.

Eventually, residents realized that the future of the Cape lay in the past. Preservation advocates succeeded in reviving interest in the resort, resulting in Cape May being designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.