Saturday, February 23, 2013

Review - Broken City (2013)


Starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Jeffrey Wright.
Directed by Allen Hughes.

Broken City left me with broken eyeballs. January doesn't seem to be a kind month these days for Mark Wahlberg. Last year I barely survived Contraband and now I had to suffer through this wanna-be thriller. The film begins with police officer Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) in court for murder. He is however freed of charges with the help of the Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) and police captain Carl Fairbanks (Jeffrey Wright).

The movie then jumps to seven years after the trial. I honestly didn't realize that the film had fast forwarded seven years until like an hour of watching-- that's how bored I was. Anyways Taggart, now an ex-cop turned private investigator is hired to carry out a job for Mayor Hostetler. Only thing is, the job turned out to be much more than he bargained for.

The acting was not horrible but the characters were too laid back so there weren't much development. Mark Wahlberg's character was not convincing as lead; I felt like more could have been done with Billy Taggart, or perhaps provide us with more backstory. Catherine Zeta- Jones character is another mystery and Jeffrey Wright's good cop/bad cop portrayal had me confused. The only remotely interesting character overall is Russell Crowe.


I found this film to be ridiculously boring. It never left its comfort zone and failed to provide me with any thrills. I found the plot to be pretty weak. The subplots even worse. Some parts just didnt make sense and didn't try to make sense. There was no momentum, no intensity so it was pretty much flat towards the ending. The last scene involving the confrontation between Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg is the only highlight of this film.

That seven years gap literally placed a big hole in this movie. This "Oh I did something for you, now you should do something for me" plot just didn't work for me. The director definitely got confused on whether he wanted this to be a political thriller or just a crime thriller. Broken City is one of those films you forget ten minutes after watching.

Rating: 4/10


Movies Also Watched:

Playing for Keeps (2012)
This was a bit boring but it wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. Could have used more backstory and scrap the over sentimental ending. - 5.5/10

Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Creepy, disturbing, funny and entertaining. Sam Raimi for the win. - 8.5/10

Let The Right One In (2008)
Slow paced but this is a unique, coming-of-age vampire movie with solid acting and an interesting story. -10/10

Shallow Grave (1994)
This was crazy from start to finish and even provided me with a few chills. Love the main characters - 8.5/10

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2009)
A twist to the horrifying Holocaust story. Both young boys carried this film -- right until it's heartbreaking end. - 9/10

Before Sunrise (1995)
A great romance drama with refreshing, random dialogue and great chemistry between the two leads. - 9.5/10

Before Sunset (2004)
This sequel picked up right where it left off in Before Sunrise. Linklater did it again. - 9.5/10

The Conversation (1974)
Gene Hackman's riding conscience and paranoia really made this film enjoyable. Love the twist. - 10/10


1 comment:

  1. Good review Shawna. The cast does what they can, but this material really brings them down and seems terribly contrived and random. At least most of it was entertaining to say the least.

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