The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Paul Zapatti
- (as Tony Franciosa)
- Elaine Santos
- (as Lauren Vélez)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo help prepare for his role, Al Pacino spent time with then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins.
- GoofsAlthough the action of the film covers only a few days, Kevin Calhoun's weight appears to fluctuate considerably from scene to scene.
- Quotes
Mayor John Pappas: 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?
Audience: No!
Mayor John Pappas: Are we asking too much for this?
Audience: No!
Mayor John Pappas: Is it beyond our reach?
Some Audience Members: No!
Mayor John Pappas: Because if it is, then we are nothing but sheep being herded to the final SLAUGHTERHOUSE! I will not go down, THAT WAY!
[the audience begins shouting approval]
Mayor John Pappas: 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.
Audience Member: Amen!
Mayor John Pappas: 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.
[Audience members begin shouting "Yes" at every pause]
Mayor John Pappas: 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.
The film begins with a lackluster conflict, the accidental shooting of a child by a drug dealer with relatives in the NY mob families who looks as if he came directly from Central Casting, and acts just as stiff. Before we even know anything about this character, he's confronted by a possibly corrupt cop ( the entire background motivation and confusion regarding the cop's rational for meeting with the drug dealer alone, without backup and without reporting in first is left completely unresolved...don't look for answers by the end of the film), gunfire is exchanged, and everyone is dead, including the innocent child, who is clearly injected into this formula for nothing more than aesthetic/emotional purposes, and is treated like "cinema-chum", shot dead for instant sympathy by the audience, only to draw in the bigger fish in the water, the primary characters.
On the heels of the shooting, we are introduced to our principles, Al Pacino as the mayor, John Cusack as the deputy mayor, single-handedly managing the entirety of New York. The completely contrived setup of the administration of a city the size of New York being managed, at least from all appearances we are given on screen, by these two characters is beyond laughable...its' insipid. Very little backstory toward the actual operations of a City Hall, the interlying politics required to operate a major city, other than another contrived conversation between Al Pacino and Danny Aiello later in the film regarding quid pro quo negotiations for construction in a borough of the city.
The central plot of the movie springs from the reaction by City Hall to this one shooting incident, as the world is (we suppose) put on temporary pause for days afterward in New York by this event. Cusack abandons his supposed position with City Hall and becomes a knee-jerk Mickey Spilane, trodding beside Bridget Fonda on some half-ass investigation of the politics surrounding the now dead cop, suspected of corruption, and the question of why the drug dealer was ever on the streets in the first place, having been questionably released on parole years before. Everyone phones in their performances, which appears as if everyone approached the movie with high hopes, then got distracted by something better to do, (possibly calling their agents for better scripts once this movie started filming) and just showed up to through with the dialogue.
Numerous gaffs, faux pauxs regarding life in New York, cornball accents by Cusack, Fonda's character operating with the depth of a spring puddle, vanilla backgrounds, boring dialogue ( save Al Pacino's impassioned, yet ultimately weak tirades toward the shooting of James Bone and his personal conversations with Pappas) make for a really unsatisfying film....so much potential for more here.
Avoid it. As much as it pains me to recommend against Al Pacino and John Cusack, actors I really enjoy, City Hall just can't deliver and feels like a TV movie of the week.
Recommendations: Better political play on a national basis in Thirteen Days and the Contender.
- monstergarp
- Feb 11, 2001
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- City Hall: La sombra de la corrupción
- Filming locations
- Teaneck, New Jersey, USA(city hall interiors)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,340,204
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,950,794
- Feb 18, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $20,340,204
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1