A strong cast helps put across what is a somewhat muddled political drama.  Mark Wahlberg stars as a former NYC cop pushed off the force due to his role in a shooting (for which he is publicly exonerated).  Seven years later, the mayor (Russell Crowe) employs the now-struggling private eye to find out who has been banging his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones in a disposable role).  This leads to murder, long-held secrets and a showdown between the mayor and the former cop.

Allen Hughes’ urban melodrama benefits from its star power and intriguing secondary characters, but its path toward the former cop’s redemption is all too obvious.  The story takes place in New York, but it rarely really feels like the Big Apple — it was filmed largely in New Orleans — which I think contributes to a feeling of ennui that enervates the action.  Despite the best efforts of Hughes, his crew and the cast, this movie from time to time exhibits an artificiality which undermines its effectiveness.

One aspect that particularly bothered me is the instant acceptance of Wahlberg’s character into the inner circle of the murder investigation by the mayor, the police commissioner (Jeffrey Wright) and even the mayor’s rival for the job (Barry Pepper) without any fuss whatsoever.  The former cop ought to be a suspect, yet everyone just seems to trust and confide in him without any trepidation.  It isn’t convincing.

Ultimately it is the moral conflict between the mayor and the former cop that decides the conclusion.  Cynics will not believe the sacrifice that Wahlberg’s character makes, nor the nonchalance with which he accepts his fate.  I actually found it refreshing, to see someone take full responsibility for his actions and not try to wiggle out of the trouble he has brought upon himself.  That actually raises my rating for Broken City a half star.  It’s a little bit better than average.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  31 January 2013.