City Hall
- 1996
- Tous publics
- 1h 51min
La fusillade accidentelle d'un garçon à New York entraîne une enquête du maire adjoint et de soudaines profondes répercussions.La fusillade accidentelle d'un garçon à New York entraîne une enquête du maire adjoint et de soudaines profondes répercussions.La fusillade accidentelle d'un garçon à New York entraîne une enquête du maire adjoint et de soudaines profondes répercussions.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Récompenses
- 1 nomination au total
- Paul Zapatti
- (as Tony Franciosa)
- Elaine Santos
- (as Lauren Vélez)
Avis à la une
I don't really know if the problem was with the script or its direction. I know I'm not the greatest John Cusack fan in the world (I find he's much better in comedy, like his sister Joan), but he had pretty good co-stars, whose talents were basically wasted, in Martin Landau, Anthony Franciosa and Danny Aiello (these guys were BORN for these roles and films, so on paper, this should have really worked out well). I had always wondered why this film had bombed so miserably, and now I know why. In cases like this, more should have been done to alter the story arc, just some basic tweaks, to make it more suspenseful and/or (though I usually balk at such 'Hollywood' tendencies) some romantic tension (a beauty such as Fonda's was misused--they may as well have hired someone else). All in all, a wasted opportunity that's worth a look if you like dramas about corruption--just don't go in with big expectations, and don't bother with a re-watch.
The characters. I found them believable, real, with some depth, in conflict. Not cardboard, cartoon-like. I found that I could really identify with and care about them.
The story. I thought it was really interesting and realistic. The behind-the-scenes look at political machinations was exciting. I tend to like movies without special effects, that are not unrealistic fantasies. ("Ordinary People" generally comes to my mind.) I thought that this movie simply took real-life type people, put them in interesting situations, filled with conflict, and had us watch them deal with the problems they were in.
I also think the movie had a message for us, in terms of right and wrong. In fact, it's downright Shakespearian. (Contrast this with another Al Pacino movie, "Heat", where the criminals are portrayed just as sympathetically as the law enforcement officers, and there is no inkling at all that there is anything morally wrong with armed robbery. I'm uncomfortable with that.)
It's refreshing to see a movie in this day and age without gratuitous sex, violence, bombs and bullets, profanity.
On a cinematic level, I found the directing, acting (the entire cast) and production to be first rate.
I realize that many, many people (possibly the large majority) don't see things as I've described here. But if what I've written resonates, then you'll probably like this movie a lot.
Which is too bad, because I really wanted to like this movie. There was great potential here to be a film about how government can still be worthwhile despite all the corruption, and to make a complex statement about that corruption, not the usual good guys vs. bad guys. And there is good acting here. Pacino and Cusack are both very good, and Danny Aiello gives one of the best performances of his career. But Fonda is wasted in her role, having nothing to do, and while there is merit in the central storyline, when it turns to a thriller, the movie loses its way, briefly recovers in the final scene between Cusack and Pacino, and then falls down completely in the end. I wish I could like this more, but no.
At the beginning you get a good idea of some of the wheeling and dealing the local politicians do just to get votes and keep various factions satisfied.
There are four writers credited with the screenplay and three of those are recognised top drawer writers.
It is obvious that the film has gone through various manifestations, gestations, rewrites and conceptual readjustments before a final, locked script emerged.
The movie dealing with a shooting that leaves a cop dead as well as an innocent child sets off a chain of events that leads to political skulduggery.
While others might find the film hard going, even dense, there is no denying the quality of the acting.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesTo 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.
- GaffesAlthough the action of the film covers only a few days, Kevin Calhoun's (John Cusack) weight appears to fluctuate considerably from scene to scene.
- Citations
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.
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- How long is City Hall?Alimenté par Alexa
Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- City Hall: La sombra de la corrupción
- Lieux de tournage
- Teaneck, New Jersey, États-Unis(city hall interiors)
- Société de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 40 000 000 $US (estimé)
- Montant brut aux États-Unis et au Canada
- 20 340 204 $US
- Week-end de sortie aux États-Unis et au Canada
- 6 950 794 $US
- 18 févr. 1996
- Montant brut mondial
- 20 340 204 $US
- Durée1 heure 51 minutes
- Couleur
- Mixage
- Rapport de forme
- 1.85 : 1
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