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Broken City Play Trailer

Broken City (2013)

tomatometer

30

Average Rating: 4.8/10
Reviews Counted: 142
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 100

Broken City's thinly sketched, formulaic script offers meager rewards for all but the least demanding noir aficionados.

26

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 29

Broken City's thinly sketched, formulaic script offers meager rewards for all but the least demanding noir aficionados.

audience

44

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 20,704

My Rating

Movie Info

In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor (Russell Crowe). Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force and the mayor's worst nightmare. (c) Fox

R,

Drama

Apr 30, 2013

$19.7M

20th Century Fox - Official Site External Icon

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Broken City Trailer & Photos

Critic Reviews for Broken City

All Critics (151) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (101) | DVD (1)

Somewhere in here there's a cogent, timely attack on the links between business and politics.

February 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Time Out
Tom Huddleston
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If you're in the mood for some slick trash featuring great actors slumming it without phoning it in, "Broken City" is a crackling good time.

January 28, 2013 Full Review Source: Richard Roeper.com
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Most of the roles are so ambiguous you end up scratching your head in the final reel, and some of the loose ends are so irrelevant they seem to have ended up on the cutting-room floor.

January 23, 2013 Full Review Source: New York Observer
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What follows is not a review; it's an autopsy...one long (illustrated!) spoiler.

January 22, 2013 Full Review Source: The Atlantic
Christopher Orr
The Atlantic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

[An] overproduced, underobserved, yet agreeably twisty new political thriller ...

January 21, 2013 Full Review Source: New Yorker
Richard Brody
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Did these people - or even these people's people - not bother to read the script first?

January 20, 2013 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Rob Salem
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It takes more than typical tough-guy turns from Wahlberg and Crowe to save the lackluster affair.

April 30, 2013 Full Review Source: COEDMagazine.com
Phil Villarreal
COEDMagazine.com

the screenplay, filled with hackneyed implausibilities and trite characterization, constantly lets everyone down

April 22, 2013 Full Review Source: Film Racket
Bill Gibron
Film Racket

It is predictable procedural fodder - you can see the "twists" coming a mile away - but done with enough conviction to paper over the plot holes and cliches.

March 17, 2013 Full Review Source: 3AW
Jim Schembri
3AW

It has ideas and, in places, verve, but it can't help but feel like a pretty standard thriller with some big names rather erroneously attached

March 17, 2013 Full Review Source: Fan The Fire
Martin Roberts
Fan The Fire

Alarm bells started ringing when every terse exchange proved chuckle worthy.

March 14, 2013 Full Review Source: Flicks.co.nz
Tony Stamp
Flicks.co.nz

A solidly old-fashioned crime thriller that ploughs the familiar furrow of cops, crooks and corruption in New York City.

March 14, 2013 Full Review Source: Movie Talk
Jason Best
Movie Talk

Welcome to the broken city... where honorable anti-heroes with dark pasts can get double-crossed and mixed up with good guys who're really bad guys... where doing the right thing will put you IN TOO DEEP. It's a drag to be here.

March 11, 2013 Full Review Source: Movies.com
Dave White
Movies.com

Aside from feeling bemused and confused by the end, the web of deceit that's presented is not even vaguely believable.

March 10, 2013 Full Review Source: The Sun Herald
Ed Gibbs
The Sun Herald

Acting drunk looks easy but its certainly not. So when Wahlberg hits the bottle, we are treated to what must be the most laughable screen lush in cinema history.

March 7, 2013 Full Review Source: UTV
Brian Henry Martin
UTV

In the end, the cards fall roughly where you'd expect them to in a clichéd thriller.

March 5, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Star
Andy Lea
Daily Star Source: Daily Star

Broken City may break new ground when it comes to pioneering cinematic scowls, but that's the only area where the cast is able to elevate the banal material.

March 4, 2013 Full Review Source: Quickflix
Simon Miraudo
Quickflix

The results are as jaded and dull as Crowe's performance.

March 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Scotsman
Alistair Harkness
Scotsman

It's moderately enjoyable, well acted and both complicated and simplistic.

March 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Mark Wahlberg builds a credible and complex charaterisation as the flawed character whose route to redemption is paved with treachery. He's the best thing going for Broken City

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

Excelling in the smarmy stakes, Russell Crowe is back in form as a crooked New York Mayor...

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile

While this thriller plays with themes of political ethics and ambition, it merely lets them simmer in the background. Director Hughes is clearly much more interested in macho posturing and the convoluted scandal-based plot.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Contactmusic.com
Rich Cline
Contactmusic.com

Wahlberg and Crowe. Together at last. So overwhelming. Can't breathe for testosterone. Can't even write complete sentences.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Irish Times
Donald Clarke
Irish Times

When it comes to long-form tales of political intrigue, television serials are fast encroaching on cinema's patch, and if this very ordinary thriller is the best Hollywood can do, it might as well cede the whole territory.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph
Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph

When a high-powered cast like this is gathered, you have the right to expect more than mundanity.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: This is London
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Although Broken City promises more than is ultimately delivered, it remains an easy to indulge in thriller.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: HeyUGuys
Stefan Pape
HeyUGuys
View all critic reviews (151)

Audience Reviews for Broken City

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Entertaining but very flawed political thriller about a private eye (Mark Wahlberg) who was thrown off the NYC police force but gets a major job when the Mayor (Russell Crowe) asks him to find out who his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is messing around with. This case is rather easy for the man but soon he realizes that this is just the start of dirty business. BROKEN CITY, as a thriller, really doesn't work because the plot is rather silly. It's especially silly if you start to think about it too long and that's why it's best to just walk into the theater, turn your brain off and enjoy the excellent cast that's offered up here. It's always amazing to see how many great actors they can get for less-than-stellar material but the three leads are excellent as are Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper and Alona Tal. The performances are certainly the reason to check this film out as they help keep the film moving along no matter how many twists and turns get thrown at us. Wahlberg is once again a lot of fun playing the tough guy and has no problem with this. Crowe appears to be having fun with the less than serious role and Zeta-Jones gets a couple nice scenes along the way. I thought Pepper is the one who really stood out playing the man going up against Crowe's character in the upcoming election. Tal was also a breathe of fresh air when she's on screen. An almost unrecognizable Griffin Dunne also plays a supporting part. Director Allen Hughes does a nice job at keeping the film moving at a nice pace but there's still no question that the material just isn't all that strong. I'm not sure if there were countless re-writes or not but the screenplay pretty much hits on every cliché that this lower-quality political thrillers do. The twists and turns aren't all that shocking and neither is the ending. Still, BROKEN CITY remains enjoyable thanks to the cast. 4 Stars 5-21-13
May 23, 2013
bbcfloridabound
Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

Ever since I saw the first trailer for this I've thought "man that looks like a damn good movie". "Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, this should be pretty good." Well, my expectations were way too high, and I should have stayed away from the trailer. This is one of those movies where if you've seen the theatrical trailer, then you pretty much know the entire movie, except maybe one or two little twists that aren't anything major. The basic premise is a cop(Wahlberg) gets off for murder and has to leave the force and become a Private Investigator. One day out of the blue the man who got him off, the mayor(Crowe), calls him up for a job. Find out who is sleeping with his wife(Catherine Zeta Jones). But things aren't always so simple, and from there this becomes a just OK political type thriller. All the actors do decent, not their best, but they do ok. But the story is kind of bland, and having seen the trailer, I was left with a feeling of "that's it?" This is an OK rental, at best, just keep expectations low and go in knowing as little as possible. But, even then it's still probably just an alright movie that hovers around average.
May 14, 2013
Everett Johnson
Everett Johnson

Super Reviewer

Broken City Quotes

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    1. Mayor Hostetler: Tell me things haven't changed!
    – Submitted by Chris P (4 months ago)
    1. Mayor Hostetler: There are some wars you fight and some wars you walk away from, this is the fighting kind.
    – Submitted by Chris P (4 months ago)

Discussion Forum

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NEEDED MORE FARTING DWARVES! 4 months ago 7

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January 17, 2013:
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The "Menace II Society" director discusses his Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe-led crime drama.

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