Review of Broken City (2013) by Tom R — 09 May 2013

(3 Stars) You should know that I am hugely resistant to political thrillers... I dislike politics in the movies as much as I dislike them in real life. I loathe them because there's always gotta be a slant; even by making a review, you may misconstrue me as making a political statement. I'm not, I just want to give reasons why I did or did not enjoy the movie without an endorsement. Broken City is... eh.

Any entertainment in Broken City is entertaining in ways it shouldn't be; every line or look from obviously evil Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) is so caked in Scar-from-The-Lion-King wickedness that it's hard to take him seriously. He is unquestionably a dirty politician and his opposing candidate (the aptly named) Jack Vallliant (Barry Pepper) is going to clean up the town. But Private Eye Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is mixed up with finding who is bonking the incumbent's wife... and of course if you watched the trailer, NOTHING is as it seems. Not to spoil anything for you, but it's always about the evil rich guy who wants to get richer. I guess Broken City has limited appeal as a rental, but I wouldn't hold my breath with you remembering any of it after you see it.

(On a side note, there's a side story featuring Taggart's girlfriend as an actress in an independent film... this film within a film is actually a pretty hysterical satire on independent dramas, wherein couples look like they're in tampon commercials at the beach, then oddly transition to rough sodomy. I honestly wish more of the movie was about this.).