Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack) is a loyal deputy mayor who admires Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino) of NYC. He is ambitious and a real operator. A simple day gets turn on its head when off-duty police detective Eddie Santos meets with Tino Zapatti nephew of a mob boss. They get into a shootout which kills them and a 6 six year boy. There are questions about Santos and police lawyer Marybeth Cogan (Bridget Fonda) defends his name. There is also a question about a light sentence headed down on Zapatti by Judge Walter Stern (Martin Landau) who is an old friend of the mayor. Kevin has to fight to uncover the truth which includes crooked politician Frank Anselmo (Danny Aiello).
It's a bit scattered with lots of characters all with their own agendas. It has a lot of great scenes with Al Pacino as the all-knowing mayor. Cusack is also great as the idealistic operator. It's a good sprawling political thriller. I love all the backroom talks, the glad-handing, the political deals, the crooked politicians and the underhanded maneuvers. It's a fine political drama.
It's a bit scattered with lots of characters all with their own agendas. It has a lot of great scenes with Al Pacino as the all-knowing mayor. Cusack is also great as the idealistic operator. It's a good sprawling political thriller. I love all the backroom talks, the glad-handing, the political deals, the crooked politicians and the underhanded maneuvers. It's a fine political drama.