Broken City (2013)
7/10
Broken City - Unexpectedly Enjoyable, Suspenseful and Intriguing!
27 January 2013
Detective Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is booted out of the NYC Police Force under mysterious circumstances relating to a shooting in a low-income housing project, which occurred before the movie begins. New York City Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) hires Taggart to tail his wife, Cathleen Hostetler (the Beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones. Needless to say, the Mayor believes his wife is bedding another man - aka cheating. Or is there a bit more to the quest? Along the way, Taggart uncovers a big-money, web of conspiracy involving corruption.

I liked Broken City movie because we don't know who did what and how many people did what to whom. In other words, while we're on edge waiting for the resolution, more perpetrators enter the game and as they say, "the plot thickens." An excellent performance by Russell Crowe; and a good showing from Wahlberg too. Zeta-Jones always shines through. I'm a fan of Alona Tal.

The unanswered questions expanded until the very end when resolution arrived. All in, Much More Suspenseful than I expected.

I did Not like the several times Carl Fairbanks, Police Commissioner (Jeffrey Wright) said "It's complicated" when asked who's involved by Taggert. Aren't most things complicated? Surely the writers could do better than that. A few times, the dialog was muffled, but then maybe it was the theater's sound system or my hearing.

I also liked Katy Bradshaw (Alona Tal) who plays Taggert's officemate and close friend and confidante. It wasn't clear to me the nature of their relationship - lovers, family members, friends or merely coworkers. Maybe I missed the connection. I wish the writers would have developed her character more. I first met Tal in the hit TV series "Leverage" (Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman) where she played Kaye Lynn Gold, country music singer, in The Studio Job (2010). I hope we see more of Tal. Wish Leverage didn't end at the end of Season 5.

See Broken City; You'll enjoy it! Arthur VanDam, film critic and author
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