Broken City (2013)

Just perfect...

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

There's really only one reason you'll sit through Broken City: to watch three good-looking people up on the big screen. It's always a more enjoyable movie when the stars are pretty to look at, isn't it? In this one, Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta-Jones headline, but it's really only Catherine who looks particularly pretty. Russell has a strange hairdo and Mark just looks tired.Ex-cop Mark is a private detective, and Russell, the mayor of New York City calls in a favor. He's up for re-election, and he thinks his wife Catherine is cheating on him. To pre-empt the tabloids and opposition team, he asks Mark to spy on her and find evidence. But there's much more than meets the eye. . .To be honest, there's a lot more than meets the eye, and it's called a handheld camera. I went to see this movie with my mom, who suffers from vertigo, and the film was so devastating to her health, it took her over two years to fully recover. The camera is nearly constantly moving, turning, and swerving, and there are several scenes with strobing police lights, so if you suffer from the same ailment, stay very far away from this movie.As far as "dirty politician double-crosses the average Joe" movies go, Broken City isn't above average. It's pretty predictable and will only really appeal to fans of the cast. Young, impressionable girls who want to drool over Mark Wahlberg and young, impressionable boys who want to drool over Catherine Zeta-Jones will probably be the happiest audience members. Rent it, you youngsters, for a fun date night!DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. It's exclusively filmed with a handheld, active camera, and there are several scenes with strobing police lights. It will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Story 7.5 / 10 Acting 1 / 10 Cinematography 2/10: 0/10 on filming the actors and 2/10 on spending some $ on effects/stunts.The movie tells an interesting story but the actors, all of them, are pretty dull; except Alona Tal she was the only one happy playing her character.Catherine Zeta Jones' script can be counted by the number of letters rather than the number of words.The movie could have been done better using actors who wanted to act.What makes the movie worse is its extended length: it is hard to watch people who do not want to be on the set being forced to do so for such an extended period.

Broken City is a decent movie with an average storyline and a good cast that sadly don't deliver as well as they could have.The film lacks any bit of originality to make it enjoyable, it follows a very safe and formulaic story,which makes it very underwhelming as basically every move the characters make is predictable.I felt like it could have been better if the actors put more energy in to their performances,no one really seemed that interested,as far as I know,Mark Wahlberg only wanted to produce this film and didn't want to play this character,and it really shows in his acting,Russell Crowe was the only person that seemed to be really enjoying his role and getting sucked in to the character. Predictable and fairly boring,Broken City has its moments and its certainly not an awful movie,but it simply isn't interesting enough to recommend. A struggling private eye accepts a lucrative job from New York's mayor.Best Performance: Russell Crowe Worst Performance: Barry Pepper

I'm not sure why this was a bomb at the box office, because I thought it was pretty decent. It's a New York-set conspiracy thriller starring the underrated Mark Wahlberg as a private detective who soon becomes embroiled in a new case involving the city's Mayor (played with sleazy relish by Russell Crowe) and his cheating wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones.BROKEN CITY avoids the usual clichés of the genre for the most part, and it's almost entirely action-free; there are no fight scenes here and only a couple of shots are fired throughout. It's far from boring, though; the political shenanigans are completely engaging, and the scriptwriter does a fine job of showing how events from the past can come back to haunt us.I've really been enjoying Wahlberg's performances as of late (after this and CONTRABAND) and he does another good job here of playing a rather unpredictable and unlikeable character. Crowe is excellent, cast against type, and the underrated Jeffrey Wright bags a strong supporting role. BROKEN CITY is a story-focused thriller that remains tight and compelling throughout, which is why I give it a thumbs-up.