Broken City

Plot

Seven years after being acquitted of murdering a young black man, former Detective Billy Taggart, now a PI – is hired by the Mayor to see if his wife is having an affair. Once he discovers the affair and gives the information to the mayor – more truths come to light, and that the infidelity between the first couple of NY might not be the only part of this story.

Direction

A solid direction from Allen Hughes, who is known for his culturally significant films like Menace to Society as part of the ‘Hughes Brothers’ duo. These themes are present here too.

There is less focus on action, and rather drama and character. There are some terrific action sequences that will keep you engaged – such as a car chase scene midway through the film.

Cast/Characters

The primary cast are Mark Wahlberg, as Taggart. Russell Crowe plays the Mayor Nick Hostetler; Catherine Zeta Jones plays his wife Cathleen.

Secondary cast are Barry Pepper, as Jack Valliant, the rival to Hostetler, Kyle Chandler as his chief of staff Paul, Jeffrey Wright as the Commissioner.

I thought they all gave strong performances – with Wahlberg giving one of his better performances. At times I felt Crowe was struggling with his American accent, but this is just me being overly critical. He is genuinely threatening at times, as his position of Mayor is under threat in the upcoming election.

I thought zeta-jones was really the only one a tad underused, but she was not the sole female character, others like Natalie Martinez and Alona Tal add strength to the cast as their respective roles as Billy’s suffering wife Natalie and colleague Katy, respectively. I

Screenplay/Setting/Themes

Fairly political both figuratively and literally, as the film begins with an almost post 2020 vibe following Taggart’s trial of killing a black man. This is really only touched upon in the bookends of the film, and I liked the way it was handled, and how Taggart’s relationship changed with secondary characters from the time of the trial, to the seven years post trial as his characters growth between these dates.

The primary plot is set around the upcoming election, and the dark undertones of the “under the desk handshake deals”.

The momentum of the screenplay keeps the viewer engaged, especially as other moments are written into the story – such as Billy’s falling off the wagon of his sobriety, to his marriage breakdown following his wife’s alleged infidelity.

The film never really drops a gear either, really picking up the pace in the second act as Billy discovers that he was hired by the mayor not really to find out if his wife was having an affair or not, but for something much more secret.

Overall

I went in blind with this one, and glad I did. I really enjoyed this. It had great performances, with most of the cast given plenty to do to add to the story points. Wahlberg in particular makes Taggart extremely likeable – even with a third act reveal.

Give this one a watch.

4/5