City Hall (1996 film)

City Hall
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harold Becker
Produced by	Harold Becker Kenneth Lipper Charles Mulvehill Edward R. Pressman
Written by	Kenneth Lipper Paul Schrader Nicholas Pileggi Bo Goldman
Starring	Al Pacino John Cusack Bridget Fonda Danny Aiello David Paymer Martin Landau
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Michael Seresin
Edited by	David Bretherton Robert C. Jones
Production company	Castle Rock Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	February 16, 1996 (1996-02-16)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$33.4 million

City Hall is a 1996 American suspense drama film directed by Harold Becker and starring Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda and Danny Aiello. The film was Becker's second collaboration with Pacino, having directed him in Sea of Love (1989).

Plot summary

In New York City, Detective Eddie Santos and mob figure Tino Zapatti kill each other in a shootout; a stray bullet also kills a child passing by. In the wake of the tragedy, questions are raised as to why Judge Walter Stern, an old friend of the ambitious Mayor John Pappas, had previously set the criminal responsible free on probation. Pappas' loyal deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun, decides to dig for answers. Meanwhile, legal aid Marybeth Cogan uncovers a conspiracy to smear Santos.

Calhoun's investigation leads to Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn politician who has connections to Tino's uncle, crime boss Paul Zapatti. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest to frame Santos. Calhoun and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources, including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately conclude that Judge Stern had to be on the take. Pappas agrees that Stern must resign.

The scandal snowballs to the point where Zapatti instructs Anselmo to commit suicide rather than become an informer or go to jail. To protect his family, Anselmo shoots himself. Calhoun uncovers evidence that Pappas put Stern together with Anselmo to receive a bribe and leave the young Zapatti on the street. Calhoun soon tells Pappas there is only one choice—to quit as mayor and leave politics for good ("You're gonna take yourself out, John. You're gonna take yourself out.").

Pappas and Calhoun share an emotional goodbye, and Pappas retires from politics. Calhoun runs for mayor and loses the election, but he remains steadfast on trying to make a place for himself in politics and also make the city a better place to live on.

Cast

• Al Pacino as Mayor John Pappas
• John Cusack as Kevin Calhoun
• Danny Aiello as Frank Anselmo
• Bridget Fonda as Marybeth Cogan
• Anthony Franciosa as Paul Zapatti
• Martin Landau as Judge Walter Stern
• David Paymer as Abe Goodman
• Richard Schiff as Larry Schwartz
• Harry Bugin as Morty the Waiter

Fritz Hollings, Senator from South Carolina at the time, had a cameo as Senator Marquand, a Southern senator whom Pappas attempts to woo in order to land the Democratic convention.

Menschkeit

A key concept in the film is the Yiddish word Menschkeit, which Mayor Pappas defines as something "about honor and character" and "the space between a handshake." Mayor Pappas is always making deals, and the question becomes whether he can retain his honor in a world of political deal-making. A deal to fund a subway station serving a new financial center is honorable because the station will make the developers of, and workers at, the center better off, and their taxes will ultimately pay for it. The deal Pappas makes with known Mafiosi to persuade a judge to reduce a prison sentence isn't honorable because Mafiosi are not honorable. Calhoun holds Pappas accountable for breaching his own moral code, but does it with deep personal sympathy and respect, that is as a mensch.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "City Hall explores political corruption with commendable intelligence, but this web of scandal struggles to coalesce into satisfying drama." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote, "Many of the parts of City Hall are so good that the whole should add up to more, but it doesn't."

Box office

The film was released on February 16, 1996 in 1,815 theatres. It debuted at number 4 at the United States box office, grossing $8 million. For its second weekend, it landed at number 6, grossing $13.8 million. The film grossed $20.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and $13.1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $33.4 million.

External links

• City Hall at IMDb
• City Hall at Rotten Tomatoes
• City Hall at Box Office Mojo