In a city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure: Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.
Forgive some misconceived scenes and weird directorial decisions, and there’s enough charisma and intrigue onscreen for a decent wallow in wickedness.
It’s an old-fashioned story of corruption and double-crosses, and even though it reminds you of any number of other, better pulpy variations on this theme, it’s pretty watchable.
If this ‘power corrupts’ potboiler had been made in the 1990s — with, say, Andy Garcia, Gene Hackman and Kim Basinger — it would already have felt old-fashioned. Forget it, Jake, it’s no Chinatown.
The results are as jaded and dull as Crowe’s performance.
Broken City is fine if you’re in the mood for a by-the-numbers Mark Wahlberg crime drama, but it’s not nearly as smart, slick or subtle as it needs to be. More medium-toasted than hard-boiled.
Broken City could have had far more merit if it had been totally reengineered as a Wahlberg campy comedy vehicle. Certainly Broken City should be watched that way, as apart from a few unintentional laughs there is little else save some nice moody noir-inflected colour pallette and camerawork to recommend here.
[Goes] through the motions.
For much of the time, Broken City doesn't seem to understand what's going on any better than we do.
It doesn’t really ring true but it’s fun and well performed.
A pre-fab facsimile of a hundred better crime movies.
Its distinguished actors have all starred in far higher profile films which were far less entertaining.
It's moderately enjoyable, well acted and both complicated and simplistic.
General release. Check local listings for show times.