First Hit: Disjointed in telling the story, OK acting, and in the end, not enough to make it worthwhile.
Try as I might, I didn’t see enough in the opening credits nor in the video tape review to make me believe that Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) did something wrong or so wrong that the commissioner Carl Fairbanks (Jeffrey Wright) and Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) tell him he must retire.
I guess I missed something and this part is important to the believability of the story. However, the film supports this premise, of the wrongdoing, by indicating that Taggart was a hop-head and drank too much during his time as a undercover cop.
The killing in question is of a young man who supposedly killed Natalie Barrow's (Natalie Martinez) sister. For his support, Natalie and her family embrace Taggart which includes Natalie living with him as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Mayor Hostetler runs the city of New York with an iron fist and with corruption based decisions. It’s done because this is the way cities work, or so they say. Anyway Taggart wants to make things right.
Wahlberg was good enough; it was the film’s story telling that let him down. Crowe was OK but it didn’t work for me. Wright was dark and puzzling in his role because you never really got that he cared about anything but holding on to his job. Martinez was OK as a minor character. Alona Tal (as Katy Bradshaw) as Taggart’s secretary was delightful and the best thing about the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones was OK as the disenchanted wife of Mayor Hostetler. Brian Tucker wrote a tired and uninteresting script. Allen Hughes directed this very forgetful film.
Overall: Wouldn’t recommend paying to see this film.