Broken City is a film that can't really decide what it wants to be. From the beginnings of a story centred on Mark Wahlberg's character, Billy, it evolves into a standard conspiracy thriller, but never really gets going with either of them. There are vague stabs at joining the dots here and there, but without much success. The first forty-five minutes are largely a throwaway and only loosely connected to the much stronger second half, the tenuous link mostly going through the character of Billy. This poses a big problem. Due to the fact that the role is so flimsy, what little attempts there are at filling him out in the early stages are completely redundant once the plot finally kicks in. Wahlberg does his best to give the guy some personality, but it's a constant uphill struggle. This leaves any efforts at poignant references to his past that come later feeling not only forced, but also unnecessary.
Once the movie begins to focus on the conspiracy, it becomes much more watchable, the dodgy character development holding less sway over the progression of the narrative. This isn't to say that it improves things hugely, just that it holds the attention much more effectively. It's tolerable and won't make you wish you'd defrosted the fridge rather than sit through it, but you've definitely seen it all before. There's no real sense of urgency about the whole thing and the mystery that is unraveled is positively trite and lacklustre. Having said that, the process of reaching the conclusion is executed reasonably well at times.
Despite the distinctly average presentation, there are a few scenes worthy of note. Barry Pepper's range in the film caught my eye, particularly as there is unsurprisingly very little in the way of fleshing out his character. Russell Crowe too, manages to dig out some of the menace that marks his best performances, but these occasions are very few. Other than these sparse moments, it's a very dreary outing for all concerned.
In addition to these issues, the resolution of the plot had a nasty habit of introducing new players into the mix that seemingly had not been mentioned previously. I'm not entirely sure if this was because I wasn't paying enough attention in the less agreeable sections of the picture, or if they were genuinely tacked on in wrapping things up. Either way, this should never be a complication in mainstream cinema and only confirms to me my opinion on the opening as uninteresting and superfluous, given where the film ends up.
Overall, it's not terrible, but it's almost certainly not worth the time. More or less everything about it is wholly ordinary and I was ultimately left disappointed.
5/10
A disappointing film that only gets going once your interest has waned. Poor character development and average presentation result in a dull, lacklustre experience.
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