Broken City

R

Released Jan 18, 2013

1 hr. 48 min.

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

27%

154 Reviews

Tomatometer

40%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Former cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) sees a chance at redemption for past sins when New York City's Mayor Nicolas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) calls on him for a special job. Hostetler thinks his wife, Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones), is having an affair and that it may hurt his chances for re-election. However, a bigger scandal than expected pulls in Billy right at the start of his investigation. Double-crossed by the mayor, Billy begins a relentless quest for justice.

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Critics Consensus

Broken City's thinly sketched, formulaic script offers meager rewards for all but the least demanding noir aficionados.

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T T

Cool movie. That said, there were multiple plot holes. Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg did a great job. On the other hand, Natalie Martinez was annoying or at least the character she played totally sucked. There were a couple of plot twists and turns that kept the movie interesting and entertaining.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/20/23

Full Review

Matt P

Wasn't too bad. Considering I've recently seen mile 22 with mark in and that was terrible. Catherine didn't have much to say, and the movie looks a bit dark. Crowe is over the top and trying to bring life or his chapter but that gets in the way. I do think mark has talent and he fit in quite well. I despised the actress in this sorry who cheated. Preferred the blonde who helped marks character in his office. Ah well. Maybe they'll make a follow up that could be interesting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Just not there. Action and acting is not good as well as the story. Disappointing because it seemed like it should have been entertaining

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/13/22

Full Review

Trerg F

Movie for the evening no more The current mayor of New York, Nicholas Hostetler, who again runs for this post, hires ex-cop, and now private investigator Billy Taggart, to follow Nicholas's wife Kathleen, who, it seems to him, has long since cuckolded him. True, Billy does not yet realize what role he is assigned in the game of the mayor. The film 'City of Vice' was filmed in 2013 by Allen Hughes, one of the brothers of the Hughes directorial tandem, who shot such strong films as 'From Hell' and 'The Book of Eli'. However, the 'City of Vice', the trailer which turned out to be much more interesting than the film itself, has already become one of the main disappointments of the current film season, failing miserably at the box office. Despite the excellent miscasting of the film, high-quality directing with a gloomy neo-noir style and the lack of a clear division of the main characters into purely positive and purely negative (in this film, everyone is equally good), after watching it one wants to exclaim: 'Is that all?!', because the plot in the picture, unfortunately, it is not particularly twisted, the denouement comes extremely quickly and predictably, although there are many prerequisites for an excellent political thriller in the film, but screenwriter Brian Tucker did not really bring the plot to greater completeness and thoughtfulness. The only real plus of the picture was its cast, which includes Mark Wahlberg, who played the role of the controversial Billy Taggart, Russell Crowe, who appeared in a very atypical image for himself, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Barry Pepper. It is on the excellent acting of the actors that the essentially shaky construction of the film rests, because the characters played by the above actors are charismatic and interesting. Cinematographer Ben Seresin shot the film in a dark and viscous manner, which skillfully anticipates suspense, in fact, its complete absence from the tape. Not bad in the picture and the soundtrack, written by Atticus and Leo Ross and Claudia Sarn, sounding disturbing and tense in it. So, 'City of Vice' is not the most successful example of a political thriller, without much intrigue and an interesting plot, which deceptively lures the viewer with an excellent cast. You can watch this picture only out of idle curiosity or if there is no better movie on the horizon.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/01/22

Full Review

nate c

Swing and a miss, super boring, muddy and bloated plot, Russell Crowe is God awful, the older and fatter he gets the worse he acts it seems

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

aaron g

When first released, rated 4 stars, after recently revisiting, it falls to a solid 3 star rating. Looking back, this feels like it was the general building up to a movie much more watching in this category, "The Departed."

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Allen Hughes

Director

Mark Wahlberg

Billy Taggart

Russell Crowe

Mayor Hostetler

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Cathleen Hostetler

Jeffrey Wright

Fairbanks

Barry Pepper

Jack Valliant

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Wesley Morris

Grantland

It's a local-government corruption thriller that doesn't care about logic or consistency or the people watching it.

Jan 6, 2014

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Wahlberg and Crowe. Together at last. So overwhelming. Can't breathe for testosterone. Can't even write complete sentences.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 1, 2013

Full Review

Robbie Collin

Daily Telegraph (UK)

When it comes to long-form tales of political intrigue, television serials are fast encroaching on cinema's patch, and if this very ordinary thriller is the best Hollywood can do, it might as well cede the whole territory.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 1, 2013

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

As it turns out, Broken City is made out of an aluminum chain of recycled Hollywood cookie cutters.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 18, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Not much of anything works in Broken City, making the title more than apt.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 20, 2022

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

For me, the biggest problem with “Broken City” reveals itself early and persists through the entire picture. There is practically no fire or energy shown in any facet of movie.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 19, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Former cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) sees a chance at redemption for past sins when New York City's Mayor Nicolas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) calls on him for a special job. Hostetler thinks his wife, Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones), is having an affair and that it may hurt his chances for re-election. However, a bigger scandal than expected pulls in Billy right at the start of his investigation. Double-crossed by the mayor, Billy begins a relentless quest for justice.

Director: Allen Hughes
Executive Producer: George Furla, Stepan Martirosyan, William S. Beasley, Jeff Rice, Scott Lambert, Brandt Andersen, Brian Tucker, Daniel Wagner, Fredrik Malmberg, Adi Shankar, Spencer Silna
Screenwriter: Brian Tucker
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Leverage Communications, New Regency Pictures, Closest to the Hole, Emmett/Furla Films, Allen Hughes
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Pervasive Language|Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 18, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 30, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $19.7M
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

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