Mad City (1997)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers (WGA):

Tom Matthews (story) &
Eric Williams (story) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One man will make a mistake. The other will make it a spectacle.

Plot:

A normal guy blows his top, and a news reporter turns into a national spectacle.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Helicopter | Hostage | Media | Museum

Cast

John Travolta	...	Sam Baily
Dustin Hoffman	...	Max Brackett
Mia Kirshner	...	Laurie Callahan
Alan Alda	...	Kevin Hollander
Robert Prosky	...	Lou Potts
Blythe Danner	...	Mrs. Banks
William Atherton	...	Malt Dohlen
Ted Levine	...	Chief Alvin Lemke
Tammy Lauren	...	Miss Rose
William O'Leary	...	CTN Junior Executive #1
Raymond J. Barry	...	Special Agent Dobbins
Lucinda Jenney	...	Jenny Baily
Akosua Busia	...	Diane Williams
Ebbe Roe Smith	...	Travis Bartholomew
Bingwa	...	Nat Jackson

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for depiction of a hostage situation, including violence and brief language.

Runtime:

114 min | Argentina:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:PA (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | UK:12 (video rating) | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 (video premiere) | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Capital Club Athletics, N. 3rd Street, San Jose, California, USA

Company:

Arnold Kopelson Productions

Quotes:

Max Brackett: A man has been shot; a line has been crossed.

Movie Connections:

References Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Costa-Gavras is certainly worth a little of your time

A second seeing of this film recently confirmed my impressions on seeing `Missing' (1982)(qv) also a second time a few months back. Costa-Gavras has things to say and he does not mince up his message.

In `Missing' he succeeded in getting Jack Lemmon to play a convincing role, and in `Mad City' he managed to get John Travolta to carry out the best role I have seen him in: his playing of a deranged simple worker real mad at having lost his job is truly memorable. Dustin Hoffman ably supports but without exceeding himself overly.

However, rather than the actors in themselves, it is the story itself which is more important and its message: getting the story on your TV news programme before your competitors is much more important than any other considerations – such as in this case, a group of schoolchildren held hostage with a shotgun aimed at them. But do not worry about them – get the story live on TV at any price, what a scoop! what a sensation!

And thus we live at the dictates of that ogre of communications called TV: whether wars in Rwanda or Afghanistan or Palestinians blowing themselves up in Israeli cafés or airliners crashing into the WTC, the most important thing is to get it live on screen for the hungry masses. We are at the mercy of papirazzi, that merciless squad of camera-toting fame-seekers, who have no scruples at getting their story first or even inventing it.

Thanks for the message, Costa-Gavras: I learnt it long ago, but you tell it well.