Broken City

I'm not sure why this was a bomb at the box office, because I thought it was pretty decent. It's a New York-set conspiracy thriller starring the underrated Mark Wahlberg as a private detective who soon becomes embroiled in a new case involving the city's Mayor (played with sleazy relish by Russell Crowe) and his cheating wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

BROKEN CITY avoids the usual clichés of the genre for the most part, and it's almost entirely action-free; there are no fight scenes here and only a couple of shots are fired throughout. It's far from boring, though; the political shenanigans are completely engaging, and the scriptwriter does a fine job of showing how events from the past can come back to haunt us.

I've really been enjoying Wahlberg's performances as of late (after this and CONTRABAND) and he does another good job here of playing a rather unpredictable and unlikeable character. Crowe is excellent, cast against type, and the underrated Jeffrey Wright bags a strong supporting role. BROKEN CITY is a story-focused thriller that remains tight and compelling throughout, which is why I give it a thumbs-up.

Broken City (2013)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining but very flawed political thriller about a private eye (Mark Wahlberg) who was thrown off the NYC police force but gets a major job when the Mayor (Russell Crowe) asks him to find out who his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is messing around with. This case is rather easy for the man but soon he realizes that this is just the start of dirty business. BROKEN CITY, as a thriller, really doesn't work because the plot is rather silly. It's especially silly if you start to think about it too long and that's why it's best to just walk into the theater, turn your brain off and enjoy the excellent cast that's offered up here. It's always amazing to see how many great actors they can get for less-than-stellar material but the three leads are excellent as are Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper and Alona Tal. The performances are certainly the reason to check this film out as they help keep the film moving along no matter how many twists and turns get thrown at us. Wahlberg is once again a lot of fun playing the tough guy and has no problem with this. Crowe appears to be having fun with the less than serious role and Zeta-Jones gets a couple nice scenes along the way. I thought Pepper is the one who really stood out playing the man going up against Crowe's character in the upcoming election. Tal was also a breathe of fresh air when she's on screen. An almost unrecognizable Griffin Dunne also plays a supporting part. Director Allen Hughes does a nice job at keeping the film moving at a nice pace but there's still no question that the material just isn't all that strong. I'm not sure if there were countless re-writes or not but the screenplay pretty much hits on every cliché that this lower-quality political thrillers do. The twists and turns aren't all that shocking and neither is the ending. Still, BROKEN CITY remains enjoyable thanks to the cast.

Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is a New York city cop who got off on a technicality following his execution of a supposed rapist/murder. Discharged from the force by his Captain (Jeffrey Wright), Taggart is viewed highly by Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) for taking out the trash with a common thug. Seven years later, Hostetler, amidst a re- election battle against golden boy city councilman Jack Valliant (Barry Pepper), hires Taggart to find out who is sleeping with his gorgeous wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones). As Taggart follows, he uncovers a much larger conspiracy.

In his first solo outing, Allen Hughes (one half of the Hughes brothers that brought us "The Book of Eli") now offers a stylish, dark vision of corruption in New York. The ladies are beautiful and all have something to hide, the men are violent and vicious and the story is ripped out of countless true-to-life headlines. "Broken City" lives up to its name and fires a slug packed with intrigue and intelligence. That doesn't necessarily translate to mean "clever".

The story sold in the trailer is a bit misleading, but perhaps that's the point. Mayor Hostetler's hiring of the true-blue cop Taggart is only a minor segment of a much larger puzzle. It involves cops, businessmen, and politicians in bribery and exploitation with a prize that all but Billy seem to seek: power. Overall that is the film's theme and it more than adequately conveys it. If you understand that and aren't looking for much else, "Broken City" is your ticket.

As I was watching the film I kept thinking that there must have been some significant cutting and re-editing. Perhaps the original cut was too dry so they added in some scenes and cut some to make the film seem more edgy. But it doesn't seem as edgy as it could have been. A number of subplots (for instance Billy's actress girlfriend, or the undeveloped father-son relationship between two of the villains) go nowhere and remain unresolved when the screen goes black. I felt much the same way.

Mark Wahlberg does an excellent job playing Mark Wahlberg, a role he was born to play. Catherine Zeta-Jones is as beautiful and commanding as ever in a role that is too short for the movie. But it is Russell Crowe who devours his scenes with the political intensity I would suppose is necessary for any real Mayor of New York. Even as the script built around Billy lags, Crowe tears apart his role. He shows why he is truly one of the best actors in the business.

The supporting cast of this film are as much a draw as the leads. Jeffrey Wright, the usual supporting character with more power than he lets on, plays the secretive Police Commissioner. His character is introduced as a stock role but ends up being much more. Kyle Chandler has a small role that deserved to be expanded. Barry Pepper, who wasn't even featured in the trailer, is the only actor in the film with the same bravado as Crowe. His scenes, particularly one with Wright and Wahlberg, are indicative of why he should be the one on the poster, now buried in the bottom credits.

Overall "Broken City" kept my attention but left me hungry for more. I suppose that is all you can ask for at the movies. I would take this ride again.

Greetings again from the darkness. The best Political crime dramas are complex films with multiple intersecting sub-plots, filled with stylish mis-direction and intense wordplay and back-stabbing between good guys and bad. What doesn't work is obvious. Especially obvious to the point where the audience is way ahead of the earnest, but clumsy protagonist. Luckily for director Allen Hughes (working solo without his brother Albert for the first time), he has stacked the film with a wonderful cast which makes it somewhat entertaining despite its major flaws.

Mark Wahlberg plays (what else?) a streetwise guy/cop/detective who tries to do the right thing but always seems to end up with the short straw. Russell Crowe is in fine form as the megalomaniac NYC mayor who plays dirty, but knows how to sell his stuff to the people ... even as he schemes to do great wrong. Their paths cross twice and neither time turns out so great for Wahlberg.

As for the rest of the cast, Barry Pepper is miscast as Crowe's mayoral opponent; Jeffrey Wright is intriguing as the Police Commissioner seemingly playing both sides against the middle; Catherine Zeta-Jones is Crowe's most unhappy and disloyal wife; Kyle Chandler plays Pepper's campaign manager (and evidently more); and Griffin Dunne is a rich Crowe supporter and knee deep in the evil scheme. Also interesting is Alona Tai as Wahlberg's wise-cracking assistant.

While no details will be spilled here, there is a fun exchange during the debate between Crowe and Pepper, and well, the movie is just at its best when Crowe is on screen. Wahlberg's character is pretty much the same he has played a dozen times prior, but it seems the real issue is with first time screenwriter Brian Tucker. He is just overrun with ideas and because of that, most go undeveloped. A script clean-up from a screen veteran could have turned this one around. Still, if you have seen all the Oscar nominated films and are looking for a watchable January release, you could do worse. Just try not to think too much!

***SPOILERS*** Dirty & sleazy New York City politics at its worse is depicted in the movie "Broken City" with ex-cop and now bedroom dick private eye Billy Taggert, Mark Wahlberg, being hired by NYC Mayor Hostetler, Russell Crowe, to investigate his sexy wife, that he's estranged from, Cathleen, Catherine Zeta-Jones, to see if she' having an illicit affair that can hurt his chances of being re-elected.

As it turns out Taggart uncovers a number of secret meetings that Cathleen has been having with non other then Paul Andrews, Kyle Chandler, who just happens to be his opponent in the mayoral race out of state and accused carpetbagger Jack Valliant, Barry Pepper. Valliant has been peppering his campaign with stories that Mayor Hostetler has been involved with a Donald Trump like building mogul who's trying to grab the Bolton Village Project and displace its 37,000 middle income inhabitants replacing it with high rise luxury condos!

As it soon turned out that the Mayor has an ace up his sleeve that he's using to keep Taggart on a short lease and under his control that has to do with a shooting that he was involved seven years ago in gunning down suspected rapist and all around low life Mikey Tavarez, Louis Tolentino, that cost him has job as a New York City policeman. It's when Taggart found out that he's been used by Mayor Hostetler to not really find out who his wife was having an affair with but to have Paul Anbdrews set up for a hit to keep him from talking, about the truth behind the Bolton Village Project, that everything about this entire plan fell into place. Now faced with a murder charge hanging over his head in the Tavarez shooting that Mayor Hostetler has video proof of Taggart seems helpless to expose him. That's unless he's willing to face the consequences that goes along with it!

***MAJOR SPOILERS*** The movie shows just how sleazy and corrupt people in power really are going as far as murder to keep the truth about their actions from being exposed. Taggart who wasn't all that clean himself at least woke up and smelled the coffee in what he was now involved in and it stunk to high heaven. With nothing to lose but his freedom Taggart did in the end the right thing which at least cleared his consciences of not going along with Mayor Hostetler's cover up of both his connections to Andrews' murder but also the Bolton Village Project as well. Which had him end up being a cell-mate with Billy Taggart in Sing Sing Prison!