Or the dirty underbelly of the American political machine…
Some movies are just to watch and then forget about. They are for pure entertainment. But others like “Gods and Generals” are good enough to be part of the curriculum in every university’s Political Science, American Studies, or Sociology department.
TOWN HALL is one of those movies.
If you need to understand the convoluted ways in which the political bosses of the machine in New York City used to run their empire through an intricate and not entirely healthy chain of favors and counter-favours, then this is the movie to watch. Granted, it’s “just” fiction, but most of it sounds possible and true enough.
Al Pacino, as usual, stands out as the mayor of the world’s most affluent and vibrant megalopolis, a man of genuine sentiments and good intentions who has nonetheless heavily compromised his former idealism and integrity in “negotiating” his way. through the difficult maze. of New York politics.
John Cussack (a younger Kevin Spacey in my opinion) plays the firecracker deputy mayor, Pacino’s right-hand man through thick and thin, a start-up know-it-all from Louisiana who ends up as one of the beacons of hope in This is otherwise a somewhat depressing story.
Danny Aiello fits the role of Brooklyn Democratic Party leader so well that you might think he was born for the part. His sudden change of gear in the restaurant scene where, after realizing he won’t get what he wanted for his business partners, he suddenly stands up and leaves Cussack alone, is a testament to the ruthless power play beneath him. All those pats on the back. friendly façade that floats on the surface.
Bridget Fonda (Henry’s daughter and Peter’s sister) is precise and focused as the lawyer for the wife of a police detective who is shot by a mobster under questionable circumstances. Her semi-romantic love-hate relationship with Cussack is a subplot that holds up well.
The plot of the film revolves around how the sentence of the son of the famous Brooklyn mobster was changed from a prison term of 20 to 30 years to a mere probation. The accidental murder of a six-year-old African-American boy moves the story forward quickly, just as the hit-and-run incident involving a young African-American boy did the same for Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” (another fantastic city from New York). novel and film).
As it turns out, from the New York Supreme Court Justice and the Mayor to the wretched probation officers, many people were in on the favor of saving the skin of the mob boss’s son. Six people lose their lives in the process but in the end “truth and justice” prevail, as expected.
This film should be watched more for the strong performances by Pacino, Cussack and Aiello and the realistic details that portray a day in the life in the belly of the beast than for the plot holes on the bumpy road to City Hall.