Review of Broken City (2013) by Stuart K — 05 Aug 2013

Directed by Allen Hughes, (who had directed Menace II Society (1993), From Hell (2001) and The Book of Eli (2010) with his brother Albert), this is a tense and intriguing crime thriller which feels old fashioned in it's execution.

It has a very good cast, and it's much better than what most critics say, it's not perfect, but it has a very good cast at it's core holding it together. Disgraced former NYPD detective Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is now a private detective, who is approached by New York mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) to investigate his wife Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones), whom he believes is having an affair.

Taggart investigates, and discovers that Cathleen is seeing Paul Andrews (Kyle Chandler), who is the campaign manager for Hostetler's biggest political rival Jack Valliant (Barry Pepper). Taggart is about to meet Hostetler with the evidence, when Cathleen reveals to Taggart that she knows he's been following them, and that all is not what it seems, and that Hostetler has something to hide.

It's a twisty thriller, focusing on political corruption and skulduggery, with the kinds of dirty tricks those high up like to play to stay in power. It does feel dated, and you do get the feeling it would have worked better if made 20 years ago, but it's far from being a disaster, and more people should have seen it.