“Broken City,” a film by director Allan Hughes (“Menace to Society”) stars Mark Wahlberg as an ex-cop turned private eye. The film starts off by showing Billy Taggart (Wahlberg), shoot and kill a man because he had raped and murdered a girl from the neighborhood that Wahlberg had worked in. Wahlberg then loses his job as a police officer and the rest of the film concentrates on his relationship with the mayor of the city, played by Russell Crowe.
The film presents great intangibles. The film score keeps the audience engaged with its poignancy. There was a great transition between scenes musically whenever the tension rose or lowered. The composer for the film, Atticus Ross (“Book of Eli”), added a great deal of his own touch. His score made the fast paced lifestyle of the city more apparent.
In terms of the cinematography, director Allan Hughes’ influence propelled the grittiness of the film. One scene towards the latter part of the film stood out in particular. Wahlberg’s character had left a liquor store and proceeded to smash the bottle. The lights used in the scene served as great backdrop for Wahlberg’s frustration and overall mood at this point in the story.
Overall, the film does take a little too much time in getting to the meat of the story, but when the plot does hit, the film presents a tale of corruption that is relevant to urban America today.
-Jagpal Khahera
