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★★☆☆☆
27 February 2013
This article is a review of BROKEN CITY. |
“Do private eyes still exist?” Paul Andrews (Kyle Chandler)
That line could be argued to epitomise the whole flick – anachronistic, but not in a good way. Imagine a sub-sub-sub-CHINATOWN. If you’re going to deal with P.I.s, corruption on a metropolis scale, real estate, you better be bringing your A-game; the shoes that have to be filled are almost impossibly huge. The 70s masterpiece has also just been reissued to tie-in with the Polanski season at the British Film Institute. Don’t lose heart filmmakers, there are flicks that have recently come into that sphere of greatness, namely Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, GONE BABY GONE.
That line could be argued to epitomise the whole flick – anachronistic, but not in a good way. Imagine a sub-sub-sub-CHINATOWN. If you’re going to deal with P.I.s, corruption on a metropolis scale, real estate, you better be bringing your A-game; the shoes that have to be filled are almost impossibly huge. The 70s masterpiece has also just been reissued to tie-in with the Polanski season at the British Film Institute. Don’t lose heart filmmakers, there are flicks that have recently come into that sphere of greatness, namely Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, GONE BABY GONE.
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Opening on smoke emanating from a gun, and the camera revolving in slow-mo to reveal Mark Wahlberg’s Billy Taggart; a cop having just killed someone. On trial, he gets off. We don’t yet see the alleged crime, so can’t pass judgement on his culpability; but it’s Wahlberg, when was the last time he played a bad-egg? Anyway, new evidence comes to light, again withheld from the audience, which casts his innocence into doubt. The Mayor, Hostetler (Russell Crowe), and Taggart’s superior, Carl Fairbanks (Jeffrey Wright), conspire to brush it under the carpet. The victim was a criminal, and it’d be better for everyone it seems if Billy is not convicted. However, the cop has to lose his shield. Seven years later we join him as a P.I. aiming to collect his earnings from people who say they’ll pay in “Never-uary”. The pace is punchy, we are fed info at a breakneck speed, and a charismatic cast oil the gears of acceleration nicely.
Of course, the mayor calls in the quid pro quo marker for keeping Billy out of prison. Now fighting for re-election from a formidable rival, Jack Valliant (Barry Pepper), he needs for Billy to prove his wife Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is having an affair. The payment is $50k, useful to keep Taggart’s business afloat. The acceptance of the job sets in motion a conspiracy, the resolution of which is immensely unsatisfying; riddled with contrivances and unless I’m mistaken, hinging on a secret document that would actually be in the public domain? Characters do stuff mysteriously, and when demystification occurs, a scratching of the head results as to why the convolution? Contrast the magnificent TV show, STATE OF PLAY. Admittedly that had six hours to flex its creative muscles in. The film adaptation, also starring Crowe, was the unsatisfying diet version. While I enjoy watching Maximus do his stuff on the silver screen, his accent here is distracting. Is it Boston, Baltimore, Nu Yoik? Until it was mentioned we’re in the Big Apple, I wasn’t sure of the location. Obviously Wahlberg and Zeta-Jones don’t help on that front.
Does anyone win? Apple perhaps? An iPhone kinda saves the day.
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