New To Blu: Broken City

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What could have been a promising crime drama is turned upside down in to a confused movie that doesn't know what it wants to be. From the previews, Broken City looked like it could be a notable film with an excellent pedigree of big name actors. Unfortunately, none of them know what to do under the lead of an uninspired director and a terrible script. The film lacks any focus while trying to throw predictable plot twists at an audience that's expecting something worthwhile from this awesome cast.

Broken City looked like a thriller with a dark, mysterious premise. The trailers promised to deliver a modern tale of political corruption intertwined with a story of corrupt police while offering charged performances from Wahlberg and Crowe. I won't lie. They both do what they can with this mind boggling script. The failure lies with director, Allen Hughes. He should have taken the reigns and fleshed out the premise of the story before ever putting this train wreck to film. It's just terrible.

I sat through Broken City convincing myself that something was going to change or that it would finally find a direction. I was wrong. The film is over long, under developed, and a predictable mess of standard plot twists. If you're into wasting a couple hours, check it out. But I really can't find any reason to suggest seeing this movie other than watching Crowe and Wahlberg do their damnedest to out-drama each other for a couple hours. Broken City should have never seen the light of day.

-CG