City Hall

Pros: Great story and great performances.

Cons: Not as tightly wound as it would have you believe; writers use cop-outs.

The Bottom Line: Good movie for fans of political dramas and crime dramas (although no CSI-style crime-solving techniques). Good for kids 13 and up although they may not understand it all.

Review: I had heard of this movie when it came out in 1996, but I have never gotten around to seeing it in theatres or renting it. A few months ago, I was at Best Buy, and they had the DVD on the $5.99 rack. Intrigued, I bought it. I put it in my collection and ...

Pros: Big Al, rest of the cast, some hi-faluting speechifying.

Cons: Somewhat contrived, lumbering, heavy-handed civics lessons.

The Bottom Line: A young politician finds fatal foibles in his idol, the mayor of New York, in a lukewarm big-city melodrama that doesn't measure up to its own self-import.

Review: My wife wanted to check out this New York City drama because she has a thing for John Cusack. He plays Kevin Calhoun, a Louisiana-born deputy mayor to larger-than-life Manhattan Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), who has political ambitions far beyond...

Pros: High power actors, including Al Pacino, Danny Aiello, John Cusack, Tony Franciosa, Martin Landau

Cons: Weak, predictable story and direction that wastes the talents of this ensemble cast

The Bottom Line: I wish it were better as I'm a fan of the genre, but all in all City Hall is a weak effort. You can afford to skip this one!

Review: ”’Menschkeit,’ you know... something between men... it's about honor, and character... untranslatable.” Mayor John Pappas Director Howard Becker (Sea of Love) peels back the shiny foil wrapper and shows us the seamy underbelly ...

Pros: The situation revolving around the death of a child is interesting, and the very ending was sort of "cute"

Cons: While I didn't hate this film, I found it really hard to...like with it's slow pace, lack of exciting characters, and a storyline that didn't fall through, in my opinion

Review: I'm not sure if I would consider Al Pacino, John Cusack, or Bridget Fonda "great," but all have earned enough acclaim(except for maybe Fonda, who also has her share of negative reviews) to make one think they would choose "better"...

Pros: Superb Acting

Cons: Bad writers take this film down the tubes

Review: Capsule: As a mayor's assistant investigates a crime with political implications, we get an inside look at the workings of a political machine in New York City. The mystery itself may be the weakest link in the film, with the setting and style being the...

Pros: performance by Danny Aeillo

Cons: unbelievable plot, wasted performance from Pacino, Cusack and Fonda

Review: This movie about corruption in city government gets off to a really strong start but then drifts off into something that wouldn't even make the movie of the week. As a huge fan of Pacino, I was really disappointed with his lackluster performance in this...