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City Hall (1996 film)

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City Hall
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarold Becker
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMichael Seresin
Edited by
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • February 16, 1996 (1996-02-16)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[1]
Box office$33.4 million[2]

City Hall is a 1996 American political thriller film directed by Harold Becker and starring Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda and Danny Aiello.[3] The film was Becker's second collaboration with Pacino, having directed him in Sea of Love (1989).

Plot summary

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The film opens as New York City Mayor John Pappas makes a speech. His admiring deputy mayor Kevin Calhoun watches and narrates the scene. Meanwhile, NYPD Detective Eddie Santos and mob figure Tino Zapatti kill each other in a shootout on a Brooklyn corner. A stray bullet from Santos' gun also kills a 6-year old boy.

Tino was the nephew of mob boss Paul Zapatti, and questions are raised as to why he was free on probation. To contain the outrage, deputy mayor Kevin Calhoun investigates. Internal Affairs sets about framing Santos as a dirty cop. Detective's Endowment Association lawyer Marybeth Cogan does her best to protect Santos' family and becomes Calhoun's reluctant ally.

Calhoun's investigation leads to Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn political boss who has connections to the Zapatti family. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest to frame Santos. Calhoun and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources, including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately conclude that Judge Walter Stern had to be on the take. Mayor Pappas agrees that Stern must resign.

The scandal snowballs to the point where Zapatti instructs Anselmo to commit suicide rather than become an informant or go to jail. To protect his family, Anselmo shoots himself. Calhoun discovers that Stern owes his judgeship to a bribe that Anselmo delivered on behalf of the Zapatti's to keep Tito out of jail. Pappas engineered the scheme. Shocked and disheartened, Calhoun tells Pappas he must resign. Even though Pappas wants to fight the imminent scandal, he admires Calhoun's integrity and acquiesces.

The film ends as Calhoun campaigns at 86th and Broadway for New York City's 6th City Council district, determined to make the city a better place.

Cast

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Fritz Hollings, the then-current U.S. Senator from South Carolina, plays Senator Marquand, whom Pappas and Calhoun lobby in order to land the Democratic National convention.

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch and Roma Torre have brief cameos in TV news broadcasts.

Production

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In January 1994, it was announced Harold Becker had made a deal with Paramount Pictures to direct City Hall, a drama in the vein of Network written by Bo Goldman.[4] The following month, it was announced Castle Rock Entertainment had picked up City Hall after Paramount let their option lapse.[5]

Tom Cruise at one point was in preliminary negotiations to star in the film, but negotiations quickly fell apart.[4][5]

Reception

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Critical response

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Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote, "Many of the parts of City Hall are so good that the whole should add up to more, but it doesn't."[6] Janet Maslin had high praise for Danny Aiello's "beauty of a performance", calling it the "heart of the tale".[7] Owen Gleiberman graded the film B-, writing, "if you’re going to travel the familiar labyrinth of corruption, it helps to have John Cusack as your guide."[8] The Washington Post concluded, "What prevents 'City Hall' from being an outright failure is its intriguing sense of detail."[9] Variety called City Hall a "Greek tragedy" which "aims to tell the dark truth about a modern metropolis yet doesn't stint on fun."[10]

Many reviewers praised the chemistry of the two leads. The Daily Telegraph wrote, "the relationship between Pacino and Cusack is more than seductive enough to hold audience attention".[11] In its 2.5 out of 4-star review, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution felt the film was "Less than the sum of its parts...But give it credit for trying."[12] Philadelphia Daily News was grateful that the film, "gives us a political drama with engaging moral and ethical dimensions. The movie is a welcome change from the fluff of 'The American President' and the self-indulgent freak show that was 'Nixon'."[13]

The film scores 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, and B- on CinemaScore.[14][15]

Box office

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The film was released on February 16, 1996 in 1,815 theatres. It debuted at number 4 at the United States box office, grossing $8 million.[16] For its second weekend, it landed at number 6, grossing $13.8 million. The film grossed $20.3 million in the U.S. and Canada[17] and $13.1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $33.4 million.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "City Hall (1996) - Financial Information".
  2. ^ a b "Top 100 Worldwide B.O. Champs". Variety. January 20, 1997. p. 14.
  3. ^ Maslin, Janet (February 16, 1996). "City Hall (1996) FILM REVIEW; Dangerous Dealings In the Heart of New York". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b "Becker bags 'City Hall'". Variety. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "New York politics bring Castle Rock to 'City Hall'". Variety. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (1996-02-16). "City Hall". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2018-02-23 – via RogerEbert.com.
  7. ^ Maslin, Janet. "FILM REVIEW;Dangerous Dealings In the Heart of New York, The New York Times. February 16, 1996.
  8. ^ Gleiberman, Owen. "City Hall". Entertainment Weekly. February 23, 1996.
  9. ^ Howe, Desson. "YOU CAN FIGHT CITY HALL!", The Washington Post. February 15, 1996.
  10. ^ Klady, Leonard. "City Hall", Variety. February 12–18, 1996. 78.
  11. ^ Roach, Vicky. "Al's a vote winner 7 DAYS", The Daily Telegraph. May 9, 1996.
  12. ^ Murray, Steve. "City Hall", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. February 16, 1996. 11P.
  13. ^ Thompson, Gary. "THE FONDA FACTOR: BRIDGET IS BAGGAGE, BUT FILM'S LOW ON FLUFF", Philadelphia Daily News. February 16, 1996. 44.
  14. ^ City Hall at Rotten Tomatoes
  15. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "City Hall" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  16. ^ Weekend Box Office : It's a Bull's-Eye for 'Broken Arrow' from Los Angeles Times, 21 February 1996, retrieved 7 September 2014
  17. ^ "City Hall". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
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