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City Hall (1996)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
16 February 1996 (USA) moreTagline:
Murder...Corruption...Cover-up...Scandal... morePlot:
The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
1 nomination moreUser Comments:
Can't decide if it's thriller or drama moreCast
(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 |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some violence.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
111 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreCertification:
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:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
The scenes at the snowy train station were actually filmed in 80-degree weather. moreGoofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Kevin Calhoun is crossing this busy street and is almost hit by multiple vehicles you can clearly see the traffic light in the background signaling a green "WALK" for the pedestrian crossing Calhoun is using, so all the vehicles almost hitting him are running a red light. moreQuotes:
[Kevin suggests distancing themselves from a man in trouble]Mayor John Pappas: "Distance"! Distance is something you do to your enemies. It's a thing of the nineties, to make friends extinct. Distance... is the absence of menschkeit!
Kevin Calhoun: Translate that for me.
Mayor John Pappas: You don't know what menschkeit means?
Kevin Calhoun: No, I don't.
Mayor John Pappas: Menschkeit, you know... something between men... it's about honor, and character... untranslatable. That's why it's Yiddish.
Kevin Calhoun: I didn't know you'd taken up the language.
Mayor John Pappas: Abe laid it on me.
more
Soundtrack:
A Real Nice Clambake moreFAQ
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I had been long awaiting this movie ever since I saw the trailer, which made it look like a political drama, starring three of my favorite actors; Al Pacino, John Cusack, and Bridget Fonda. And even though it was directed by Harold Becker, who has done uneven work, he and Pacino did combine on SEA OF LOVE, which ranks among each of their best work. But interference on some level(for starters, several of the scenes in the original trailer don't appear in the movie) and changing of tone(subsequent trailers make it look like a thriller) make this, while watchable, nowhere near as it could have been.
Which is too bad, because I really wanted to like this movie. There was great potential here to be a film about how government can still be worthwhile despite all the corruption, and to make a complex statement about that corruption, not the usual good guys vs. bad guys. And there is good acting here. Pacino and Cusack are both very good, and Danny Aiello gives one of the best performances of his career. But Fonda is wasted in her role, having nothing to do, and while there is merit in the central storyline, when it turns to a thriller, the movie loses its way, briefly recovers in the final scene between Cusack and Pacino, and then falls down completely in the end. I wish I could like this more, but no.