City Hall

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City Hall

R

Released Feb 16, 1996

1h 51m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

60%

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25 Reviews

37%

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10,000+ Ratings

Tragedy strikes when a child is caught in the crossfire between a cop and a mobster on the streets of New York City. Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino) brushes the situation under the rug, causing his deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack), to start asking questions. When Calhoun discovers that Pappas, his idol, is actually deeply involved in illegal activity between the police department and the Mafia, he is faced with a dilemma: Should he stay quiet, or expose his boss for who he really is?

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Critics Consensus

City Hall explores political corruption with commendable intelligence, but this web of scandal struggles to coalesce into satisfying drama.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Director Harold Becker captures the political rhythms of the big city and keeps the rather complicated plot comprehensible. But audiences need to pay attention; this is not a by-the-numbers urban thriller.

Aug 7, 2019

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Jack Kroll

Newsweek

Its chief pleasure is the acting of the big cast, notably Pacino. At 55, he has a haggard, life-wrestling beauty and a street eloquence that has more innocence than De Niro and more sincerity than Nicholson.

Jan 18, 2013

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B-

Sep 7, 2011

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a decent-enough endeavor that often feels like it should be much, much better.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 16, 2023

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

An ambitious but unsatisfying meditation on the morality of power.

Rated: C

May 5, 2007

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: C

Jun 26, 2005

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j f

John Cusack is pretty good at adolescent brooding, equally awful at anything else, and his regional accents are atrocious. Also, the movie itself isn’t very good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/07/24

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Da P

One of Pacino's finest roles, artfully portrayed with audacious political bluster that appears so genuine and sincere despite the fact that his shallow and devious nature controls every word he says.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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jelisije j

Al Pacino is the soul of this movie and without him this movie barely passes as decent.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

City Hall is a movie that has a decent story and strong lead roles, but was hard to follow at times.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/28/22

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Audience Member

I made an account just to review this movie. How you gonna walk up on the guy you think is torturing your girl to death and just calmly say "stop". Like Bro just kill him. So many plot holes like they obviously shot the girl in the head. And how you gonna blame that man for killing Alexi after all the shit he went through. I give this movie a .0001 out of 10

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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steve d

OK, but far less memorable than it should be with this much talent.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Harold Becker

Director

Al Pacino

John Pappas

John Cusack

Kevin Calhoun

Bridget Fonda

Marybeth Cogan

Danny Aiello

Frank Anselmo

Martin Landau

Walter Stern

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Synopsis

Tragedy strikes when a child is caught in the crossfire between a cop and a mobster on the streets of New York City. Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino) brushes the situation under the rug, causing his deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack), to start asking questions. When Calhoun discovers that Pappas, his idol, is actually deeply involved in illegal activity between the police department and the Mafia, he is faced with a dilemma: Should he stay quiet, or expose his boss for who he really is?

Director: Harold Becker
Producer: Edward R. Pressman, Ken Lipper, Charles Mulvehill, Harold Becker
Screenwriter: Ken Lipper, Paul Schrader, Nicholas Pileggi, Bo Goldman
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 16, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.0M
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Surround

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