Shot in gloomy shades of gray, this earnest but banal story about the legacy of bad parenting strands fine actors in a contrived situation and lets them squirm. Loosely based ("inspired" might be the better term) on Mike McAlary's 1997
Esquire piece "Mark of a Murderer," this examination of grinding guilt and tentative redemption is played out against the mean streets of one-time resort town Long Beach, Long Island, whose blasted landscape mirrors the LaMarca family's emotional ruin. Veteran cop Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) has spent his life compensating for the fact that his father was an executed child murderer. But the past will not be denied: Vincent'...
Released:
2002
Rated:
R
Length:
108 mins