By KEITH GRANT
These days, Long Beach is grimy and decayed. Instead of sun-soaked families, its inhabitants are unsavory scum bags like Vincent's son, Joey. (Arizona Daily Star)
...Joey (James Franco) has killed his drug dealer. Doubtlessly, such occurrences are not uncommon in the dilapidated seaside town of Long Beach, N.Y. (LA Weekly)
Fact or fiction? Grimy and dilapidated may accurately describe the current Hollywood version of Long Beach, N.Y., as seen in the Robert DeNiro film, City by the Sea. But with many prominent movie critics around the country assuming the reel Long Beach is the REAL Long Beach, local officials are calling on the film's makers to make amends.
The 33,000 citizens of the City of Long Beach are due an apology, said Long Beach Chamber of Commerce president Larry Elovich. Elovich and several irate city officials held a press conference last Thursday, Sept. 12, lashing back at the portrayal of Long Beach in the film, loosely based on the 1996 murder committed by Joey LaMarca.
In their defense, Warner Brothers and Franchise Pictures who shot the film in Asbury Park, N.J. issued a statement that claimed, At the time the actual events took place in Long Beach, the city was experiencing difficult economic times and was far from the beautiful place it is today.
Council member Lenny Remo responded, The city never looked like the portrayal in the movie. It is truly a shame that a movie as fictionalized as City by the Sea' compared to the true story neglected to fictionalize a location that is a figment of the director's imagination and has no bearing to the real place.
While the movie's false portrayal of Long Beach has gotten attention in the New York media, it is far from being a national story. Therefore, Remo said the city is continuing to explore its options to address what he called a defamation of our city's character. In addition to an apology, city and chamber leaders have called for a disclaimer to be added to the movie crediting the fictionalization of both the movie's facts and its location.
It would be the very least Warner Brothers could do for Long Beach by way of a mea cupla, Remo said.
