Broke Down

Conditions: Foreboding

Are We Learning Yet?

In assessing the wisdom of Bush’s 2003 decision to invade Iraq, we need to address this question: Did the end (removing a dangerous threat to peace) justify the means (likely costs to the United States)?

In my view, the objective was justifiable

- dailyprogress.com/opinion/

No. No we are not.



Film Review: Broken City

Ultimately a not-so-great story is propped up by a great cast. Russell Crowe! Catherine Zeta Jones! Barry Pepper! Mark Whalberg? Well anyway, Whalberg plays an ex-cop with a murky past turned private eye who the mayor enlists to find out who his wife is cheating on him with. The mayor is up for re-election, and the battle is going down to the wire. And wouldn’t you know it, Whalberg snaps a few pics of the wife hanging out with the main rival’s head advisor. It’s a short hop and a skip to find said head advisor dead in the street, so now Whalberg is trying to figure out what really happened. And it turns out... well surprisingly straight forward from there.

It’s a well made movie, full of zest and enthusiasm, the private eye stuff is good and seedy, the stuff with the mayor is all slick and sleazy. The problem is where the characters are all so gritty that they kind of forget to make us care about them. I mean, it’s all pigs in the mud, and in the end the audience is just trying to keep themselves clean. The challenger for the mayor, Barry Pepper (looking all grown up nowadays) really doesn’t do enough in this film to make it a balanced story about the mayoral battle.

I found Whalbergs detective character to be the worst detective I’ve ever seen. Getting caught out constantly by various people while trying to skulk around, not realising that the mayor wants a lot more than just knowledge about his cheating wife, not asking questions of people, or pursuing leads, or really anticipating anything much. It’s really surprising he survives, let alone cracks the inevitable case. In the end it’s a stylish film with some pretty good actors, but the story just isn’t there. Two photographs out of five.



- Peace out