Movie Review: "Broken City"

Despite what its title may suggest, there is nothing 'broken' about this movie. It's just that a better title would have been something along the lines of Recycled City or Dull City. Right from the opening scene it's clear that director Allen Hughes and writer Brian Tucker are trying to evoke the feel of a classic neo-noir with flawed good guys, shady criminals and villains who would do anything to keep the truth from coming out. But the film doesn't so much evoke these tropes as it does repeat them, and while I give all involved credit for trying, the fact that we have seen (better) movies like it many times before really hurts the film.

The film's plot borrows quite a bit from Roman Polanski's brilliant noir, Chinatown, as it opens with a jealous spouse (Russell Crowe), who also happens to be the mayor of New York City, asking a private eye (Mark Wahlberg) to find out who his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is having an affair with. Naturally, not everything is as it seems and characters are quickly double crossed. What is the mayor really after? Is his wife actually cheating on him? What's at stake? These are questions the audience would be asking themselves only if they had never seen a mystery movie before. There is no suspense in the movie, and no surprising revelation- you can see everything coming from a mile away. It also doesn't help that the film is not subtle in the way it draws its characters. The mayor, for example, is supposed to come off as being mysterious and possibly (most definitely) up to no good. But when you have his character constantly dropping racial and homophobic epithets, referring to his wife (and women in general) as "bitches" and talking about hunting in the most villainous way possible, it will not come as much of a surprise when anything nefarious is revealed about his intentions.

The film also fails to truly mimic one of the major characteristics of a noir film: the flawed hero. Mark Wahlberg's character, we learn, is a former cop who was fired and nearly jailed for shooting a black teenager. Naturally, tensions ran high for a while and his innocent verdict proved controversial. But the film tries to depict Wahlberg as being "tortured" by his actions. He struggles with alcoholism, for example, and has a temper problem when it comes to his wife. But it never quite rings true. Every time his flaws appear on screen, it feels too staged and melodramatic. For example, a sequence when he gets into a fight with his actress girlfriend regarding a steamy sex scene she was filming for her movie comes out of nowhere, fails to further the plot and just feels ridiculous.

I do have to applaud the A-list actors that, for whatever reason, appear in this film. Even with lackluster material, everyone involved really gives the film their all. Mark Wahlberg is not the most diverse actor, but when in the right role he can really shine. Needless to say, a tough cop turned private eye is a role he was meant to play. Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones also have a lot of fun chewing on scenery and going deliciously over-the-top in all their scenes. Other actors wouldn't have made it work, but they both seem to know when they should dial it back and how they can still manage to ham it up without getting too ridiculous about it. Stealing scenes was relative newcomer Alona Tal, who plays Wahlberg's assistant. Her character is a walking cliché, but Tal sells the occasionally ridiculous dialogue and contrived situations with sincerity and believability.

In the end, Broken City is, essentially, a bad film. But it's a bad film I won't remember in a month or two. In fact, it's only been about 12 hours since I actually watched it and I've already forgotten some plot details. At this rate, it'd be as if I hadn't seen the film by the Fourth of July. And I'd much rather see a forgettable bad movie than one that would burn itself into my memory and haunt me forever. So, if Broken City interests you I encourage you to skip it and rent the many classic films that clearly influenced it. Chances are you'll remember them more than you'd remember this.

OVERALL GRADE: C

"Broken City" is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray.