Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Broken City’ Ain’t All it’s Cracked Up to Be

BROKEN CITY is not a bad political crime thriller…

There’s just not much here we’ve haven’t seen before. Cutting back on some of its R-rated soundtrack and trimming a few of its violent scenes a tad, would have made it a decent made-for-TV movie.

The BROKEN CITY is New York City where mayor Russell Crowe is in a tight race for re-election. His first lady is Catherine Zeta-Jones, but it’s a cool’ relationship to say the least. And Crowe suspects she’s cheating on him.

But with whom? How and where?

Enter disgraced ex-cop Mark Wahlberg who’d been dougle-crossed and framed in a street incident earlier by the Big Apple’s most powerful figure and now works as a private dick on low end cases.

So when the mayor wants the scoop on the wife he calls on Wahlberg to do the digging and take the verboten pictures.
For a $25,000.- upfront fee and another $25,000 on delivery of the sordid goods.

After all, proof is a powerful weapon.

What Wahlberg discovers instead is a citywide conspiracy involving corruption and threats on his life at every turn.

Crooked politicians? Imagine that.

And the mayor’s smack in the midst of it all and he’s not about to give in without one hell of a fight for his NYC power base and his pending (secret) real estate deal and well being.

It’s Wahlberg’s relentless pursuit of justice and streetwise toughness that makes him the mayor’s worst nightmare.

It all sounds pretty promising, right?

But the movie has its dragging moments and offers practically no originality. For a Wahlberg vs. Crowe thriller, frankly I expected more. And Zeta-Jones seems wasted in her role.

Yet she has the best line in the entire movie when she confronts Wahlberg with: “Are you stupid….or Catholic?”

Still, Broken City is an OK 109 minute-long thriller through with several decent twists and turns along the way—opening wide to 3 out of 5 ticket stubs.
 
Catch JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. on KMBZ- Fm & Am / Also anytime on Time Warner Cable’s K.C. ON DEMAND, Channel 411 / And throughout Nebraska on NEBRASKA ON DEMAND.