“City Island” is pretty damned irresistible. What begins as a winning workout in a highly familiar genre ‚Äî the white-ethnic, big-city family comedy ‚Äî gradually gains both screwball momentum and emotional power, and delivers an unexpected punch by the time it reaches its climactic pileup of characters and revelations. As a filmmaker, De Felitta isn’t Antonioni, but he doesn’t aspire to be. Instead, he’s a witty and economical craftsman of comic narrative. Even if I didn’t know he was an aficionado of classic Hollywood movies, I’d see the influence of, say, George Cukor and James L. Brooks. (Andrew O’Hehir, Salon)