Review of Broken City (2013) by Robyn N — 12 Feb 2013

"Broken City" quickly descends into a quicksand of clichés--much like "Gangster Squad", "Broken City" aspires to the likes of "Chinatown"-and the results are meager and insubstantial. Mark Wahlberg stars a Billy Taggart, a New York cop forced to resign after a controversial shooting. But Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crow) has his back. He hires Billy, now a private investigator, to catch Mrs. Mayor (Catherine Zeta-Jones) screwing around. What seems like a simple adultery case opens a rat's nest of political corruption.

Though it's not a long movie, it feels a little long, as though things were being tagged on, or as if the screenwriter was making it up on the fly. It's never boring, but it lacks an accumulative impact. The plot, frankly, is a little confusing. Four or five subplots wander off into oblivion, and it's occasionally hard to tell whether Hughes is winking at clichés, or merely adhering to the genre handbook. The script written by newcomer Brian Tucker is a bloody mess that has no sense of direction. Throughout the film, we're led to believe there will be some big "reveal" - a twist or secret that will cause us to gasp in shock. When it comes, it's so muted and unsurprising that it diminishes the film's climax.

In the right role, Mark Wahlberg can be a tremendous asset to any movie. Unfortunately, Billy is not the right role. Wahlberg is stiff and unconvincing and it quickly becomes apparent that the film would have benefitted from someone with a more volcanic temperament in the lead. As his adversary, Russell Crowe brings a little more to the part, but this isn't the New Zealand-born actor's finest hour. Catherine Zeta-Jones, continuing her comeback from obscurity, does a fine job.

That's not to say the film is all bad. It's competently shot, and while the characters are paint-by-numbers constructions, the actors behind them do their best to give them some life. Sadly, that's not enough. Wahlberg, as well as Jeffrey Wright, dip into their stock character formula too much. It works to a degree for Wahlberg, who is usually at his most enjoyable when he's treading familiar ground. However, Wright just comes across as another grumbling, grumpy old man who hasn't gotten that old yet.

"Broken City" is silly and not at all believable. The characters are poorly drawn, but the performances are generally fine. It is a well-made, effective although somewhat of an unremarkable thriller. It is generally well directed. "Broken City" fails to impress, largely because it's a film everyone will have already seen. The performances aren't exceptional (although Crowe does arrogance to a tee) and the plot line is the usual Big City corruption story. That said, "Broken City" is not a terrible film - just not particularly memorable.