Broken Arrow/Black Sheep/Beautiful Girls/A Midwinter's Tale/Antonia's Line

A disappointment considering the cast--especially a post-'Heat' Pacino!

Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin in Sea of Love (1989)

Kim Basinger, Al Pacino, and Téa Leoni in People I Know (2002)

Al Pacino and Jerry Orbach in Chinese Coffee (2000)

Al Pacino and Paul Guilfoyle in The Local Stigmatic (1990)

Al Pacino and Marthe Keller in Bobby Deerfield (1977)

Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer in Frankie and Johnny (1991)

Al Pacino and Rachel Roberts in S1m0ne (2002)

Al Pacino and Colin Farrell in The Recruit (2003)

John Cusack, Al Pacino, and Bridget Fonda in City Hall (1996)

I was warned not to come here. I was warned. They warned me, "Don't stand behind that coffin." But why should I heed such a warning, when a heartbeat is silent and a child lies dead? "Don't stand behind" this coffin. That boy was as pure and as innocent as the driven snow. But I must stand here, because I have not given you what you should have. Until we can walk abroad and recreate ourselves; until we can stroll along the streets like boulevards; congregate in parks free from fear, our families mingling, our children laughing, our hearts joined - until that day we have no city. You can label me a failure until that day. The first and perhaps only great mayor was Greek. He was Pericles of Athens, and he lived some 2500 years ago, and he said, "All things good on this Earth flow into the City, because of the City's greatness." Well, we were great once. Can we not be great again? Now, I put that question to James Bone, and there's only silence. Yet could not something pass from this sweet youth to me? Could he not empower me to find in myself the strength to have the knowledge to summon up the courage to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task of making a city livable? Just livable. There was a palace that was a city. It was a PALACE! It was a PALACE and it CAN BE A PALACE AGAIN! A PALACE, in which there is no king or queen, or dukes or earls or princes, but subjects all: subjects beholden to each other, to make a better place to live. Is that too much to ask?

Because if it is, then we are nothing but sheep being herded to the final SLAUGHTERHOUSE! I will not go down, THAT WAY!

I choose to FIGHT BACK! I choose to RISE, not fall! I choose to LIVE, not die! And I know, I know that what's within me is also WITHIN YOU.

That's why I ask you now to join me. Join me, RISE UP with me, RISE UP on the wings of this slain angel.

We'll rebuild on the soul of this little warrior. We will pick up his standard and RAISE it high! Carry it forward until THIS CITY - YOUR CITY - OUR CITY - HIS CITY - IS A PALACE OF GOD! IS A PALACE OF GOD! I am with you, little James. I am you.

Al Pacino and Danny Aiello in City Hall (1996)

John Cusack and Al Pacino in City Hall (1996)

Al Pacino

John Cusack

Bridget Fonda

Ken Lipper

Paul Schrader

Nicholas Pileggi

The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.

Harold Becker

City Hall

Can&apos;t decide if it&apos;s thriller or drama

I had been long awaiting this movie ever since I saw the trailer, which made it look like a political drama, starring three of my favorite actors; Al Pacino, John Cusack, and Bridget Fonda.  And even though it was directed by Harold Becker, who has done uneven work, he and Pacino did combine on SEA OF LOVE, which ranks among each of their best work.  But interference on some level(for starters, several of the scenes in the original trailer don&apos;t appear in the movie) and changing of tone(subsequent trailers make it look like a thriller) make this, while watchable, nowhere near as it could have been.

Which is too bad, because I really wanted to like this movie.  There was great potential here to be a film about how government can still be worthwhile despite all the corruption, and to make a complex statement about that corruption, not the usual good guys vs. bad guys.  And there is good acting here.  Pacino and Cusack are both very good, and Danny Aiello gives one of the best performances of his career.  But Fonda is wasted in her role, having nothing to do, and while there is merit in the central storyline, when it turns to a thriller, the movie loses its way, briefly recovers in the final scene between Cusack and Pacino, and then falls down completely in the end.  I wish I could like this more, but no.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDgxMzY0ZTUtNzkxOC00ZjY0LTg2NDAtMjQ0YjFjNGYwMjBmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_.jpg

I had been long awaiting this movie ever since I saw the trailer, which made it look like a political drama, starring three of my favorite actors; Al Pacino, John Cusack, and Bridget Fonda.  And even though it was directed by Harold Becker, who has done uneven work, he and Pacino did combine on SEA OF LOVE, which ranks among each of their best work.  But interference on some level(for starters, several of the scenes in the original trailer don't appear in the movie) and changing of tone(subsequent trailers make it look like a thriller) make this, while watchable, nowhere near as it could have been.

Which is too bad, because I really wanted to like this movie.  There was great potential here to be a film about how government can still be worthwhile despite all the corruption, and to make a complex statement about that corruption, not the usual good guys vs. bad guys.  And there is good acting here.  Pacino and Cusack are both very good, and Danny Aiello gives one of the best performances of his career.  But Fonda is wasted in her role, having nothing to do, and while there is merit in the central storyline, when it turns to a thriller, the movie loses its way, briefly recovers in the final scene between Cusack and Pacino, and then falls down completely in the end.  I wish I could like this more, but no.

bappamtv

City Hall

🎭 Top Cast

💰 Box Office

🎬 Technical Specs

🏷️ Keywords

🎯 Categories

⭐ Featured Review

💡 Did You Know?

🎬 More Like This

📖 Synopsis