City Hall (1996)

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

Director:

Harold Becker

Writers:

Ken Lipper, Paul Schrader,

Stars:

Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A young boy dies from a stray bullet during a shootout between a cop and mob family member who had previously been supiciously given probabtion, only to break its terms. New York's Deputy Mayor, Kevin Calhoun starts digging for information.

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Plot Keywords:

mayor | drug dealer | scandal | new york city | probation | 

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Taglines:

A Mayor... A Deputy Mayor... A City About to Explode.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Sombra da Corrupção

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$20,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scenes at the snowy train station were actually filmed in 80-degree weather.

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Goofs

As Frank Anselmo is entering his house you can see a crewmember walking in front of his window in the bottom left hand corner.

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Quotes

Kevin Calhoun: And you're just going to wait under that plastic awning for an hour and then ride a Queens bus and then slep on the subway into Manhattan...
Marybeth Cogan: [interrupting] Schlep! Schlep! Not slep, schlep!
Kevin Calhoun: Schlep?
Marybeth Cogan: Get the gumbo out of your Yiddish.

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Connections

References South Pacific (1958)

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Soundtracks

"If I Loved You"
from the musical play "Carousel"
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Used by permission of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization
Vocals performed by Cassie Byram

User Reviews

Entertaining

This is a movie for John Cusack fans. He is in almost every scene as a mayoral aide who gets in way over his head trying to solve a murder mystery involving a drug dealer, a lonewolf cop and a six-year-old boy. Cusack has definitely grown into serious adult roles, as this film makes abundantly clear. Pacino is also topnotch as a crusading mayor who harbors a terrible secret. He is in control and charismatic as hell. Watch for the funeral scene where he sways what could have been a very hostile crowd. Danny Aiello also is terrific as a Brooklyn borough chief in bed with the mafia. Too bad the shaky script wasn't up to the acting. Is this a drama or an action piece? It wavers back and forth. But even if you figure out the resolution early on, which my kid did less than halfway through, this may keep you reasonably spellbound. A little too talky, although some pretty good dialogue.