City Hall (1996)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Harold Becker

Writers (WGA):

Ken Lipper (written by) and
Paul Schrader (written by) ...

Release Date:

16 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Murder...Corruption...Cover-up...Scandal...

Plot:

The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.

Plot Keywords:

New York | Mayor | Drug Dealer | Mafia | Probation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Mayor John Pappas
John Cusack	...	Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun
Bridget Fonda	...	Marybeth Cogan
Danny Aiello	...	Frank Anselmo
Martin Landau	...	Judge Walter Stern
David Paymer	...	Abe Goodman
Anthony Franciosa	...	Paul Zapatti (as Tony Franciosa)
Richard Schiff	...	Larry Schwartz
Lindsay Duncan	...	Sydney Pappas
Nestor Serrano	...	Det. Eddie Santos
Mel Winkler	...	Det. Albert Holly
Lauren Vélez	...	Elaine Santos
Chloe Morris	...	Maria Santos
Ian Quinlan	...	Randy Santos
Roberta Peters	...	Nettie Anselmo

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33992) | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Belt Parkway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Anthony Franciosa's last film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the shootout at the beginning of the movie, there is an obvious squib on the front of Tino's jacket visible just before the detective shoots him.

Quotes:

Kevin Calhoun: The only thing new about this world is the history we don't know.

Movie Connections:

References "The Robert MacNeil Report" (1975)

Soundtrack:

What's Then

Intelligent political thriller not pretending anything

Well, there is a plenty of ways how to spoil a political thriller. Usually they are derivative or too ambitious, often they feature a conspiracy that is totally paranoic and unbelievable. But City Hall does not do neither of the above mentioned. The plot is cleverly crafted, story is believable. As far as characters go I would say this movie is a solid average. No character seems out of place and Al Pacino is brilliant as always. His portrayal of a charismatic NYC mayor is superb and proves again that Al Pacino belongs to the absolute top of American actors nowadays.