City Hall

City Hall is an exciting political thriller with John Cusack in the narrator's role as Kevin Calhoun, whose great role model is his employer, the Mayor of New York, John Pappas. Kevin, who does a great deal of work as the mayor's right-hand man, is driven by idealism and ambition. He believes he can find those qualities in John Pappas too, who is sincerely committed to improving conditions for his fellow citizens. At the same time, he is a media-savvy and tactically seasoned politician with his sights set on the White House.

Then the senseless death of a little boy sets off an avalanche that shakes Kevin to his foundations. A policeman and a drug criminal die from each other's bullets, and a little boy is caught in the crossfire. The press pounces greedily on the incident, for what was the policeman doing on his own, and why was the criminal not behind bars?

Together with the resourceful lawyer Marybeth Cogan, who represents the interests of the policeman's widow, Kevin tries to get ahead of the press. As the two unravel the case, more and more bodies turn up. Who could be so desperate to conceal what really happened?

The film's ending veers dangerously close to melodrama, but until then this drama works impeccably, and its picture of the political game seems entirely credible.