Broken City

2013

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

77
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 40% · 152 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 40% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 85709 85.7K

politics mayor investigation ex-cop revenge double crossed

Plot summary

In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force - and the mayor's worst nightmare.

Director

Allen Hughes Photo
Allen Hughes

Top cast

Mark Wahlberg Photo
Mark Wahlberg as Billy Taggart
Greg Sproles Photo
Greg Sproles as Crime Scene Cop
Chance Kelly Photo
Chance Kelly as Murdock
James Ransone Photo
James Ransone as Todd Lancaster
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
849.12 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 5
1.59 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 14

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by griffolyon12 6 / 10

A Generic Political Thriller

Broken City is not an unwatchable movie, but it's not a great movie either. A standard, run-of- the-mill political thriller about corrupt politicians and the private eye caught in the middle of it all, is elevated by the turns of Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, but the script itself is bland and a little too on the nose for it to ever be believable or emotionally involving. When a character is flat-out telling you everything about their backstory, rather than letting you piece it together through visuals and subtext, that's when you know the script doesn't always work. Even still, there are good moments to be found here and there, but there's nothing about this movie that's any different than any similar movie ever released, and most of those do everything a lot better. Want my advice, watch Serpico or All the President's Men instead.I give Broken City a 6 out of 10!
Reviewed by ferguson-6 5 / 10

We Broke this city on Mark and Crowe

Greetings again from the darkness. The best Political crime dramas are complex films with multiple intersecting sub-plots, filled with stylish mis-direction and intense wordplay and back-stabbing between good guys and bad. What doesn't work is obvious. Especially obvious to the point where the audience is way ahead of the earnest, but clumsy protagonist. Luckily for director Allen Hughes (working solo without his brother Albert for the first time), he has stacked the film with a wonderful cast which makes it somewhat entertaining despite its major flaws.Mark Wahlberg plays (what else?) a streetwise guy/cop/detective who tries to do the right thing but always seems to end up with the short straw. Russell Crowe is in fine form as the megalomaniac NYC mayor who plays dirty, but knows how to sell his stuff to the people ... even as he schemes to do great wrong. Their paths cross twice and neither time turns out so great for Wahlberg.As for the rest of the cast, Barry Pepper is miscast as Crowe's mayoral opponent; Jeffrey Wright is intriguing as the Police Commissioner seemingly playing both sides against the middle; Catherine Zeta-Jones is Crowe's most unhappy and disloyal wife; Kyle Chandler plays Pepper's campaign manager (and evidently more); and Griffin Dunne is a rich Crowe supporter and knee deep in the evil scheme. Also interesting is Alona Tai as Wahlberg's wise-cracking assistant.While no details will be spilled here, there is a fun exchange during the debate between Crowe and Pepper, and well, the movie is just at its best when Crowe is on screen. Wahlberg's character is pretty much the same he has played a dozen times prior, but it seems the real issue is with first time screenwriter Brian Tucker. He is just overrun with ideas and because of that, most go undeveloped. A script clean-up from a screen veteran could have turned this one around. Still, if you have seen all the Oscar nominated films and are looking for a watchable January release, you could do worse. Just try not to think too much!
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