It’s about time we had a decent political thriller after all of the overlong, pompous Oscar stuff, and this down and dirty story is just that. Although it does lose momentum towards the end, for the most part it is an engaging and enjoyably dark and grubby look at US politics.
Producer Mark Wahlberg apparently offered the role of maverick cop Billy Taggart to Michael Fassbender, but when the Irish actor turned it down he decided to play it himself. The film certainly doesn’t suffer for it. Wahlberg is on good form as a cop with a murky past he had a drink problem, and wiped out an unarmed known rapist. Facing charges, he gets off with the help of New York mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe), who regards Billy as a hero the rapist may have been unarmed but he was a serial offender and also murdered one victim.
Seven years later and Billy is now running a private eye business, none too successfully. He gets a call from Mayor Hostetler a week before the elections. Hostetler believes his wife Cathleen (Zeta-Jones) is having an affair and wants Billy to track her. He discovers that her liaisons are with the head of the campaign for Hostetler’s rival in the election race. That’s just the start of it though there are crosses and double-crosses aplenty to come, involving property scandals, political intrigues and sexual delicacies.
For the first hour at least it’s an engaging and gripping experience. Wahlberg is a fine everyman, shambling about in cheap clothes and trying to keep his business afloat, hopelessly out of depth in the world of million-dollar fundraisers and dinners. Zeta-Jones is suitably aloof and high-maintenance as the mayor’s wife, and Crowe is clearly relishing his role as the seedy Mayor with a dark past, all oleaginous smiles and with a superb Donald Trump-style combover. New York looks filthy and bashed-about, apart from those five-star hotel venues, and the whole thing has a satisfying pace and feel.
However the second hour is nowhere near as fulfilling once the mystery starts to be revealed. Wahlberg’s relationship with his kooky secretary becomes grating, and a sub-plot involving his partner and her debut in an indie film simply doesn’t work it’s a plot point which could have been done in 30 seconds of dialogue. Natalie Martinez does her best to make it work but it’s a lost cause.
It’s a shame because a lot of the hard work of the first hour dribbles away with a lack of pace and conviction, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact this is still one of the better thrillers of the year so far.
Overall verdict: Flawed but interesting urban thriller with Wahlberg on top form as a cop out of his depth and Crowe relishing his role as New York’s grinning, back-stabbing mayor. It will probably got to DVD fairly quickly where it will find its audience, but for an hour it’s quality stuff.
Reviewer: Mike Martin