New movies from directors Steven Soderbergh and Gus Van Sant and a trio of films starring French divas will be competing this year at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Styled as a film noir homage, "Broken City" is maddeningly literal in the way it pays tribute to the genre.
"Broken City" _ It should come as no surprise that every character in a movie with a title like this is either rotten to the core, or a liar, or a schemer, or the bearer of seriously damaging secrets. What is surprising is that these characters never feel like real people, despite a series of twists that should, in theory, reveal hidden, unexpected facets of their personalities and despite being played by big-name stars including Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They're all still conniving, only with varying alliances and targets. At the center of these dizzying double crosses is Wahlberg as Billy Taggart, a former New York police detective who got kicked off the force after a questionable shooting. Seven years later, Billy is barely getting by as a Brooklyn private eye. Then one day, the mayor (Crowe), who'd always been on Billy's side, hires Billy to investigate whether his wife (Zeta-Jones) is having an affair. He's up for re-election in a week and doesn't want to lose to a young, well-financed challenger (Barry Pepper) over revelations that he's being cuckolded. But Billy's digging leads to further revelations involving the mayor's rival, the rival's campaign manager (Kyle Chandler), the police commissioner (Jeffrey Wright) and some wealthy, well-connected land developers. Everything is simultaneously too complicated and overly spelled out. Director Allen Hughes' film is a forgettable piece of pulp. R for pervasive language, some violence and sexual content. 108 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
It should come as no surprise that every character in a movie called "Broken City" is either rotten to the core, or a liar, or a schemer, or the bearer of seriously damaging secrets.
James Bond is in a box-office photo finish with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny over what looks to be the last slow weekend of the holidays.
This is supposed to be the time of year when high-quality movies come out, whether they're potential Oscar contenders or crowd-pleasing family fare.
While Matthew Broderick clearly can take a joke, it might be best if he skips the latest edition of the theater spoof "Forbidden Broadway."
The United Kingdom's famed city provided the backdrop not only for the latest Olympics but for some classic movies.
The athletes and the Olympic torch have arrived in London — and so has the party.
