CITY HALL
A film review by Christophe Boone
Copyright 1996 Christophe Boone
Directed by Harold Becker Produced by Harold Becker, Ken Lipper, Charles Mulvehill, and Edward R. Pressman Written by Bo Goldman, Ken Lipper, Nicholas Pileggi, and Paul Schrader CAST: John Cusack, Al Pacino, Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello, David Paymer, and Martin Landau
Opens nationally Friday, February 16, 1996
No mayor can ever be liked by everybody, especially the mayor of New York City. No matter what services he claims to have brought to the city, there is always something behind him to make him corrupt. CITY HALL tries to paint a portrait of the perfect mayor, but winds up falling short.
One rainy afternoon in Brooklyn, on the corner of Broadway and Marcy, a detective meets up with a mob screw up that he tried to put away two years ago. Something goes wrong, bullets fly, the cop and the mobster lie dead, and a six year old is caught in the crossfire. Whose bullet hits him is a little ambiguous, but watch closely and you'll know.
News in the city travels fast. Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack) learns from an aid of the incident and cuts the Mayor's (Al Pacino) speech short. Calhoun is down home boy from Louisiana spouting quotes from Huey Long and Harry S Truman, only trying to do what is right and find the truth. He idolizes the Mayor, John Pappas, Time cover man, and one of the finest mayors ever to grace this office with his presence. Together, they start a crusade to find out why these killings took place.
Along the way, Calhoun runs into Marybeth Cogan, a lawyer assigned to protect the widow and her chances of receiving her husband's pension. She believes that Calhoun is out to tarnish his name and expose him as corrupt. They make an unlikely pair that should have no romantic spark. Well, the writers couldn't resist at the end in one of the lamest conclusions I have seen in a while. Can you say reshoots after poor test showings? Together, these two become detectives doing police work that should be left to IA, but they seem to only have one moment of brilliance. The rest is left up to Calhoun and Cogan, which in and of itself is hard to swallow.
CITY HALL remains almost too ambiguous at times. For the normal American audience, many people are going to be confused as to why there are so many twists and turns, and where are they all leads. A central theme to this film is that when one doors closes, another one opens, or rather, the other way around. Unfortunately, from the beginning, the audience knows something is wrong, but each twist could result in a dead end at the answer. The film continues to plow through its own dead ends.
The biggest problem with this film is the screenplay. Cusack turns in a strong performance, much improved since his days as a high school slack in BETTER OFF DEAD and ONE CRAZY SUMMER. His potential from SAY ANYTHING is coming into fruition. Al Pacino plays Al Pacino, and one wonders if the audiences will ever tire of him. Bridget Fonda smiles nicely, and bobs her hair, that's about it. Upon closer examination, however, there is a reason why the credits do not precede this film. Four separate writers are credited with penning this script: newcomer Ken Lipper, Bo Goldman (SCENT OF A WOMAN), Nicholas Pileggi (GOODFELLAS, CASINO), and Paul Schrader (TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL). Three well known writers on a not-so-worthy script. If I had to guess, I'd say that Lipper wrote it, and the studio saw potential, so they passed it from one hand to the next. Their strategy did not pay off. This film was supposed to arrive in theatres in December, but the studio pulled out, exposing their lack of confidence in this film among the holiday competition. The plot lines do not weave a complete story, but run parallel instead. One character says it best, "The sweater unravels."
For Cusack's performance alone, it might be worth a look, but I have reservations. This is not Pacino's best, and Bridget Fonda has still not found her breakout role, if it ever comes. But, CITY HALL is a worthy rental, so save the $7, and spend the $3 in a few months.
-cbb
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