Broken City
As one of the producers, Mark Wahlberg offered the role of Billy Taggart to Michael Fassbender, but when he declined, Wahlberg ended up playing the part himself.,In Jack Valliant's elections headquarters there's a poster with the Hebrew word for "Jewish". Though those are the correct letters of the word, they're written left to right instead of right to left (hsiwej).,Billy Taggart: I did it to keep a woman.
Cathleen Hostetler: Then you *do* believe in love.
Billy Taggart: I believe in loving the one you're with.
Cathleen Hostetler: Mm, what are you, stupid or Catholic?
Billy Taggart: Both.,Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.74 (2013),You Let Me Down
Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin
Performed by Billie Holiday
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing,I'm not sure why this was a bomb at the box office, because I thought it was pretty decent. It's a New York-set conspiracy thriller starring the underrated Mark Wahlberg as a private detective who soon becomes embroiled in a new case involving the city's Mayor (played with sleazy relish by Russell Crowe) and his cheating wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

BROKEN CITY avoids the usual clichés of the genre for the most part, and it's almost entirely action-free; there are no fight scenes here and only a couple of shots are fired throughout. It's far from boring, though; the political shenanigans are completely engaging, and the scriptwriter does a fine job of showing how events from the past can come back to haunt us.

I've really been enjoying Wahlberg's performances as of late (after this and CONTRABAND) and he does another good job here of playing a rather unpredictable and unlikeable character. Crowe is excellent, cast against type, and the underrated Jeffrey Wright bags a strong supporting role. BROKEN CITY is a story-focused thriller that remains tight and compelling throughout, which is why I give it a thumbs-up.,