City Hall (1996)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

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:

New York | Mayor | Drug Dealer | Mafia | Probation

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:

The interior scenes of New York's City Hall actually were filmed inside a mansion in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Goofs:

Continuity: Pappas buttons his vest at the beginning of his last scene with Calhoun, but midway through it is suddenly open again.

Quotes:

Mayor John Pappas: You want an answer? Okay, pappy, think of it as colors. There's black, and there's white, and in between is mostly gray. That's us. Now gray is a tough color, because it's not as simple as black and white - and for the media, certainly not as interesting. But... it's what we are.

Movie Connections:

References "The Robert MacNeil Report" (1975)

Soundtrack:

People Will Say We're In Love

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.