"City Hall" provides an insider's look into big city politics, as seen through the eyes of young, idealistic deputy mayor Kevin Calhoun.
When an off-duty cop and a mob-connected drug dealer engage in a shootout, a stray bullet kills a young Black boy. But the incident enmeshes charismatic NYC mayor John Pappas and his right-hand man Kevin in a web of widespread corruption, involving fellow politicians, the mob, the police, and the judicial system. The resulting scandal has repercussions for many of the key players and changes New York's political landscape -- and the lives of Pappas and Calhoun -- forever.
2.
In a performance both volatile and graceful, Al Pacino reteams with Sea Of Love director Harold Becker as New York Mayor John Pappas in City Hall, a savvy thriller that's the first film ever shot inside the lower Manhattan structure that's ground zero for the city's government. That and other NYC locations provide the vivid settings as an idealistic mayoral aide (John Cusack) follows a trail of subversion and cover-up that may loop back to the man he serves an reveres. Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello, Martin Landau, Tony Franciosa and David Paymer add more starry brilliance to this gripping tale of power. And the power behind the power.
3.
This complex 1996 drama directed by Harold Becker (Sea of Love) attempts to explore big-city corruption and the flexibility of what's right and wrong in the political arena. John Cusack plays the senior aide to mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), a popular and seasoned politician whose administration is threatened when what seems to be an accidental shooting of a child reveals a nest of corruption and lifelong personal debts. This tests Cusack's loyalty to the man he thought he knew. Pacino turns in a finely textured performance as a man who has his own lofty ideals, but whose pragmatism sets in motion a series of events with tragic results. Cusack admirably captures the essence of someone polished and savvy at his job but must cope with fundamental disillusionment. This political thriller suffers at times from a lack of focus, but still offers an insightful and poignant treatise on the quagmire of politics in the modern age and the human toll it sometimes exacts. --Robert Lane
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