Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

g-bodyl City Hall is a rather interesting, if not by the books political thriller that highlights the everyday corruption we see in American politics. It's not really eye-opening, but it's relevant in today's world despite the film being made eighteen years ago. This film is not about what happens on the outside, but what happens on the inside. Those who want to study politics may want to check out this film.Harold Becker's film is about how a scandal which involved a dead cop and a dead six-year-old, changed the lives of the mayor and his deputy mayor. The mayor, John Pappas is known for his brilliance and the deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun is just as smart. But when a lawyer accuses the mayor of corruption, Calhoun must decide whether to follow his idol or to part sides.The acting is pretty good for the most part. Al Pacino has done better roles in his career, but though he seems to not particularly try here, he seems to do an okay job. John Cusack was excellent, and this is one of his better roles of the 90's. I don't understand why Bridget Fonda is in this movie since her character really is of no relevance, but I guess she did fine. Danny Aiello was excellent as the corrupt political boss of Brooklyn.Overall, City Hall is little above average political thriller that is extremely predictable, but still quite enjoyable and thrilling. It tells a good lesson about corruption in politics, but the story could have used some tweaking. But all-in-all, I was able to enjoy the film for what it is: A good, old-fashioned political thriller. I rate this film 8/10.

callanvass (Credit IMDb) A young boy dies from a stray bullet during a shootout between a cop and mob family member who had previously been suspiciously given probation, only to break its terms. New York's Deputy Mayor, Kevin Calhoun starts digging for information.It isn't very often that I shut a movie off at 45 minutes in. Especially with a terrific cast like this one. This movie was so boring that I was unable to pay attention. It was extremely talky and failed to engage my interest. A movie with Al Pacino, John Cusack, and Bridget Fonda should not be this boring, plain and simple. Maybe I will give it another try down the road, but I doubt it.

g0b0 I read the negative comments before viewing this film and undeterred, went ahead and started watching. I admit that I had to rewind quite a few times as the film is incredibly complex, involved and full of detail. That is a good thing but also, quite unexpected in this culture of car chases, explosions, gratuitous sex and general violence that substitute for plot and character development. In fact, what a welcome departure, however, I am so used to not paying a lot of attention to what I watch. This film is chock full of character development and plot line; the kind that we used to analyze when I was in high school. It requires actual mental participation on the part of the viewer. What a nice change. I would compare it to 'All The President's Men' in terms of generic subject matter. That is, it is a mystery about intense misconduct on the part of elected officials and those with enough influence upon officials to essentially 'own' them. Unlike 'All The President's Men', this film makes an effort to give a couple of the characters actual personality. In this sense the movie is a character study like 'The Negotiatior' with Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey. In that movie, their characters are both city employees and the plot is extremely intense. Yet, the plot is dependent on the ability of their characters to cooperate with each other, trust each, and ultimately unite together against the corrupt Police Department. There is more gun fire in this film and the specific plot is different but generically, there are many similarities. I WILL say that City Hall requires a whole lot more concentration. In fact, I was struck how parallel it was to past and present political scandals I've seen in my life going back to Watergate. The thing is, the public knows that something is wrong, for sure! but following the details is hard to do. This movie is not even close to being as complex as real life but it actually is realistic to life in its complexity. I think that is one of the reasons that previous posters have criticized the film: unrealistic expectations.If one watches this knowing what they are about to see and are up to the experience, it really is excellent! I watched it 3 times in a row! The acting is superb and the directing is flawless. The weakest link is John Cusak's accent.

jbmarcy Admittedly, I find Al Pacino to be a guilty pleasure. He was a fine actor until Scent of a Woman, where he apparently overdosed on himself irreparably. I hoped this film, of which I'd heard almost nothing growing up, would be a nice little gem. An overlooked, ahead-of-its-time, intelligent and engaging city-political thriller. It's not.City Hall is a movie that clouds its plot with so many characters, names, and "realistic" citywide issues, that for a while you think its a plot in scope so broad and implicating, that once you find out the truth, it will blow your mind. In truth, however, these subplots and digressions result ultimately in fairly tame and very familiar urban story trademarks such as Corruption of Power, Two-Faced Politicians, Mafia with Police ties, etc. And theoretically, this setup allows for some thrilling tension, the fear that none of the characters are safe, and anything could happen! But again, it really doesn't.Unfortunately, the only things that happen are quite predictable, and we're left with several "confession" monologues, that are meant as a whole to form modern a fable of sorts, a lesson in the moral ambiguity of the "real world" of politics and society. But after 110 minutes of names and missing reports and a spider-web of lies and cover-ups, the audience is usually treated to a somewhat satisfying reveal. I don't think we're left with that in City Hall, and while it's a very full film, I don't find it altogether rich.