Let us mourn anew the death of Sidney Lumet, the master filmmaker behind such classic, New York movies as the gritty “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Serpico” and “Prince of the City.” His is a voice that is sorely missed in American movies, never more so than when we get subjected to something like “Broken City,” a movie with Lumet-ian aspirations which, like the corrupt NYC mayor at its center, can barely handle the weight of its own ambitions.
First-time screenwriter Brian Tucker’s script starts strong, laying the groundwork for what feels like a wonderfully labyrinthine web where corruption and deceit meet personal weaknesses and political hubris, but by the film’s rushed and sloppy third act, the whole thing collapses into a very familiar and not particularly compelling heap.