ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
cay_t
This is a movie that is much less than the sum of its parts. Good cast, good director, both completely undermined by a Godawful script. I sat through the whole thing hoping it would get better, even though it revealed its awfulness within the first ten or fifteen minutes, but no such luck ... it just descended into further levels of horrible until it finally fizzled out with a whimper.Seven years later, Billy is a private detective that lives his girlfriend Natalie Barrow (Natalie Martinez), who is an aspirant actress and the sister of Mikey's victim. His secretary Katy Bradshaw (Alona Tal) is trying to collect part of the debts to save their business. In the week of the elections, Hostetler summons Billy and offers US$ 50,000 to investigate his wife Cathleen Hostetler (Catherine Zeta-Jones) that he believes is having a love affair. Billy discovers that Cathleen is meeting Paul Andrews (Kyle Chandler), who is the coordinator of the campaign of Jack Valliant (Barry Pepper), the opponent of Hostetler and favorite in the election. When Paul is found dead on the street, Billy finds that he had been double-crossed by Hostetler and he decides to investigate the truth behind Paul's murder. "Broken City" is a great political thriller about a situation that certainly happens in big cities. Mayor Hostetler is evicting people from a residence building and selling the real estate for an underrated value. In Rio, there are mysterious interests from the Powers That Be that change the construction code allowing tall buildings at the seaside streets; or destroy a velodrome and a car racing track in a valuable real estate and intending to construct another in a mined area that belongs to the Brazilian army; or valorize the harbor area with questionable constructions. Unfortunately only in fiction majors are investigated and arrested. My vote is seven.
bowmanblue
Broken City has attracted more than its fair share of negative criticism. Perhaps people were expecting more of an 'action movie' out of it? Mark Wahlberg keeps his shirt on throughout the whole film and plays a disgraced cop who is forced to get by as a private eye. Then his old friend - Russell Crowe - the mayor of New York, hires him to look into his - apparently - cheating wife.Naturally, nothing is what it seems. However, we don't find much out in the first half of the movie, where Marky Mark spends his time aimlessly wandering from one meeting to another. I can see a lot of people tuning out because of this, but, if you can put up with Russell Crowe's bizarre tan and hairpiece, then you may enjoy the second half a lot more - where character after character drops bombshell after bombshell.It's basically a political thriller about how corrupt those are with power are and it has enough original twists and turns in it to make it stand out over the rest - just don't expect wall to wall shoot outs (and don't expect many juicy revelations in the first half!).
blanche-2
"Broken City" from 2013 has some big names: Russell Crowe, Mark Wahlberg, and Catherine Zeta-Jones doing a predictable script that is beneath them.The story concerns an on-the-wagon alcoholic ex-cop, Billy Taggert. Up on charges for a nighttime shooting, the Mayor (Russell Crowe) is aware of new evidence and has him fired. Seven years later, Taggert is working as a detective, getting evidence for divorce cases when the Mayor summons him. He wants Taggert to find out who is sleeping with his wife (Jones) and bring him photos. He tells Taggert that he's afraid his opponent in the upcoming mayoral election, Jack Valiant (Barry Pepper) would use this against him if it's found out. With a lot of clients owing him money, Taggert accepts a $25,000 down payment from him.He tails the Mayor's wife and discovers that she's seeing Paul Andrews (Kyle Chandler) the opponent's campaign manager. After reporting this to the Mayor, Andrews winds up dead.First of all, you know who the murder victim is immediately because of the casting (I think). And a good part of the plot is given away when Taggert and Andrews meet on the subway (again, that's what I think, though evidently Taggert didn't figure it out).A subplot concerns Taggert's relationship with his girlfriend (Natalie Barrow), an actress who is making her debut in an independent film. Once the audience becomes aware of what's going on in the movie, we can pretty much see what will happen with this couple.All in all, "Broken City" has some good performances, particularly from Russell Crowe and Alona Tai, who plays Taggert's assistant, but it has no punch. It's a dark movie with an old plot that the screenwriter has attempted to make more modern. Done right, it would have packed a wallop. It doesn't, but if you're looking for something from Netflix, for instance, you might like it.
mst900
The movie was entertaining enough if you like the usual Wahlberg formula of cop-ex-cop against the establishment. One issue I always have with him is that Wahlberg mumbles his lines. He is frequently unintelligible. Another problem with the movie is C-bonics. The "writers" of a number of his movies, though not unique to him, are obviously not familiar with the rules of English. Anyone can call himself a writer or an author these days. You will frequently hear - "between you and I" - in the dialogue. Why no editor or even a minimally educated person picks this up is beyond me. There are the usual trite instances common to all movies nowadays. There is nothing new under the sun and I would not pay to see this at the movies.
