City Hall (1996)

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:

Mayor | Drug Dealer | Probation | Scandal | Mafia

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:

In the scene in the theater lobby, when Major Pappas asks Frank Anselmo what did he think of the actress playing Julie Jordan in the musical ‘Carousel’ they had been watching, Anselmo replies "Good act. No voice. My Nettie could sing better." Nettie Anselmo, Frank Anselmo's wife, was played by Roberta Peters, a famous opera singer.

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:

Mayor John Pappas: Your power? What good are you to the people without it? But down deep you know there's a line you can't cross, and after a thousand trades and one deal too many, the line gets rubbed out.

Movie Connections:

References "The Robert MacNeil Report" (1975)

Soundtrack:

People Will Say We're In Love

Excellent acting and a wonderfully quiet script

Excellent political thriller, played much quieter and slower than other, higher ranking films in this genre. When people talk about Pacino and Cusack how do they manage to skip over these amazing career topping performances? A story of friendships, father-son relationships, corruption and deceit. The two actors gel amazingly well together, and the supports from Aiello and Fonda are equally as impressive, although Aiello is brilliant, especially when the papers run to press. Instead of focussing on an over complex corruption scandal, it creates wonderful characters who show the human side of failure an political bribery, The final scenes with each of the main characters are wonderfully written and acted.