Broken City

From Alan Hughes, one of the two directing brothers behind Denzel Washington’s highly stylish apocalyptic thriller The Book of Eli, comes a refreshingly old-fashioned take on the crime genre; a good old tale of corruption, murder, loyalty and sex.

Mark Wahlberg stars as disgraced detective Billy Taggert, who was kicked out of the NYPD following a murder trail against him. He would have ended up in jail if it was not for the help of the city’s mayor; Nicholas Hosteler (Russell Crowe). Years later, Taggert has now turned to being a private detective, and he is called upon by none other than Mayor Hosteler to do a job for him. That job: to investigate Hosteler’s wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who he suspects of having an affair. As Taggert investigates further, he begins to realise that there is more to this investigation than meets the eye, and that there is much at cost for both the city, the Mayor and himself. However, he finds himself being manipulated, as he knows fully well that should he turn on the incredible Hosteler, the truth of his past crimes would be brought to light.

An old-school tale of city corruption, injustice and crooked politicians; politics has been shown to be an ugly game in many a classic genre entry across the years, and Broken City aims to evoke memories of those genre gems - from Crowe’s own L.A. Confidential and the glory days of Humphrey Bogart - in which noir dripped from every crevice.

With two of Hollywood’s most popular leading men going head to head and a strong supporting cast, Broken City is bound to be a show case of some of Hollywood’s most impressive and ever dependable talent. Hughes has certainly proved to be a director of style, verve and excitement, and Broken City looks to be very much in this vein, all shaping into a very well crafted and engaging crime saga.

Andrew Gaudion