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

  (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

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: 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.

Quotes:

Mayor John Pappas: Lyndon Johnson said, "Everybody will give you ideas on how to get out of trouble cheaply and fast. And they all come down to this: deny your responsibility." John F. Kennedy said, "An error doesn't have to become a mistake, until you refuse to correct it."

Movie Connections:

References "The Robert MacNeil Report" (1975)

Soundtrack:

You'll Never Walk Alone

Good.

I liked this neglected movie quite a bit, for a number of reasons.

The characters. I found them believable, real, with some depth, in conflict. Not cardboard, cartoon-like. I found that I could really identify with and care about them.

The story. I thought it was really interesting and realistic. The behind-the-scenes look at political machinations was exciting. I tend to like movies without special effects, that are not unrealistic fantasies. ("Ordinary People" generally comes to my mind.) I thought that this movie simply took real-life type people, put them in interesting situations, filled with conflict, and had us watch them deal with the problems they were in.

I also think the movie had a message for us, in terms of right and wrong. In fact, it's downright Shakespearian. (Contrast this with another Al Pacino movie, "Heat", where the criminals are portrayed just as sympathetically as the law enforcement officers, and there is no inkling at all that there is anything morally wrong with armed robbery. I'm uncomfortable with that.)

It's refreshing to see a movie in this day and age without gratuitous sex, violence, bombs and bullets, profanity.

On a cinematic level, I found the directing, acting (the entire cast) and production to be first rate.

I realize that many, many people (possibly the large majority) don't see things as I've described here. But if what I've written resonates, then you'll probably like this movie a lot.