Film Review: Broken City (4.0/5.0)

The lowdown: Broken City is a taut, intriguing and hard-boiled thriller that has much to say about big city corruption. 4.0/5.0 stars.

Given the talent attached it’s surprising that this thriller comes to our screens with so little fanfare almost slipping under the radar in the afterglow of the Oscars (even star Russell Crowe has expressed his disappointment on Twitter at the apparent limited publicity). It’s a shame because Broken City is well worthy of attention.

The ‘Broken City’ of the title refers to the Big Apple and it’s a fruit rotten to the core if snaky Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Crowe) is anything to go by. But with an election looming, his immediate concerns turn closer to home; he suspects his wife Kathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is having an affair and he hires hard-bitten disgraced former cop cum detective Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) to investigate.

What seems like an open shut case of infidelity in New York’s upper echelons unravels into something much more scandalous as Billy digs deeper into what will prove a far reaching conspiracy. To say much more would be giving too much away but it’s safe to say that money, power and vengeance are constant bookends.

Co-producer Wahlberg said recently in an allegedly drunken interview (watch an excerpt here) that he wanted Broken City to recall some seminal American character driven films of the 70 ‘s – films like Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. While that’s setting a lofty goal, Broken City does invoke the genre nicely with its own gritty panache while bringing currency by mining current political events as its backdrop. It’s a film wryly in touch with its NYC setting (an irony given that some of the film was shot in New Orleans) with a hard boiled honesty, jarringly salty and un-PC dialogue, raw violence and a plot seething with underhanded political manoeuvrings and turning tables of power.



Rusty takes his pulse taking VERY seriously

Crowe is formidable, positively lapping up his role as the cocky, intimidating (and strangely orange-hued) Mayor prepared to do whatever it takes to stay in the hot seat. Wahlberg proves a worthy macho match as his sparring opponent in this cat and mouse game and Zeta-Jones is suitably sultry, almost purring as a possible femme fatale. There’s top notch support from character actors Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) and Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights ) too.

What’s more, the sharp screenplay with its serpentine twists aided and abetted by polished direction by Allen Hughes ( The Book of Eli ) keeps the intrigue bubbling away in what amounts to a taut, hard-boiled thriller that has much to say about big city corruption.

Film: 4.0/5.0 stars

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper, and Kyle Chandler.

Director: Allen Hughes.

Written By: Brian Tucker.

Rated: MA 15+

Genre: Drama

Year: 2013

Run Time: 109 minutes.

Out: March 7, 2013.