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Mad City
1997
In one of his strongest performances, John Travolta plays Sam Baily, a museum security guard who holds visitors hostage in an attempt to win back his job when he falls foul of museum cutbacks. Dustin Hoffman co-stars as Max Brackett, a local news reporter who seizes the hostage situation as a chance to revive his flagging .. Read more
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Alan Alda, Mia Kirshner |
|---|---|
| Director | Costa Gavras |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
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Mad City
In one of his strongest performances, John Travolta plays Sam Baily, a museum security guard who holds visitors hostage in an attempt to win back his job when he falls foul of museum cutbacks. Dustin Hoffman co-stars as Max Brackett, a local news reporter who seizes the hostage situation as a chance to revive his flagging career and get back into the big time. Within minutes he is broadcasting live, within hours the entire nation is watching with baited breath. A timely, poignant examination of the role that the media plays in day to day lives in contemporary America, director Costa Gavras' Mad City is truly engaging in its search for and manipulation of the truth. Unrelenting, the film will make the viewer re-examine the way they watch the news on television.
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Alan Alda, Mia Kirshner, William Atherton, Blythe Danner, Robert Prosky, Ted Levine, Randall Batinkoff, Larry King, Jay Leno |
|---|---|
| Director | Costa Gavras |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 50 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, Italian |
| Hearing-impaired | English, Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish |
| Released | DVD: 22 Apr 2002 Production year: 1997 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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In this fascinating drama from director Costa-Gavras, John Travolta stars as a museum security guard who resorts to the desperate measure of holding a group of children hostage after he loses his job. The plot resembles a 1990s version of Ace in the Hole, with Dustin Hoffman as the ageing newsman in need of a career boost who decides to manipulate the unsuspecting Travolta for his own ends. Surprisingly dark for a Hollywood movie, this works exceptionally well thanks to a well thought-out script, subtle direction and superb performances from Travolta, Hoffman and Alan Alda as a rival journalist. Ultimately, it's an interesting, thought-provoking film that has a sharp dig at the US media and doesn't give in, right up to the jaw-droppingly surprising final scene.
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Deft satire on the live television media circus that accompanies modern-day crime and terrorism; in part, it was suggested by the Waco siege in 1993, and is also an updating of Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (qv).
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Most helpful member's review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
waste of talent
This film didn't exactly set the world on fire at the box office and after recently viewing it is easy to see why. The plot is predictable and moves in a seemlessly straight line to a spectularly predictable conclusion only stopping to tick off all the obvious checkpoints one might expect. None of the actors distinguishes themselves being as leaden as the script. The directing seems slow paced and lacks the zip you would expect from a movie about a siege. Im sure the idea of combining dog day afternoon (desperate man takes desperate measures) and network (media exploitation, journalists will go to any ends for the story) seemed a fantastic idea, sadly this isn't a patch on either of those.
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Most recent members' review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Important points to make, but ...
I thought the story had potential and the actors performances were OK, up to a point. The way the media circus tramples over everything just to get some coverage was well made when Jenny Baily (Lucinda Jenney) shouted out at them to get out of her flower beds. However many other points should have been made and were not. For example the fact that it is the fickle public who thirst for just such trashy journalism that causes the media to act the way they do.
I am not sure if all the blame lies with the director or whether the story writer takes some too. To me there were too many subplots that threatened to take over the whole film. Sub plots should be just that, something to add substance and explanation to a film and not to dominate center stage for a lot of the time. I am not sure whether the over emphasis on the Brackett/Hollander rivalary was in the script or whether it was just the way that Costa-Gavras chose to portray it. Another thing I am not sure about was John Travolta's different characters, at times hamming it up with the kids, at times a frightened man out of his depth, at times an angry man ready to do anything. All these should be there, he is a mixed up person as his wife tells us, but I felt they should be better blended rather than three extreme sides to the character. I have seen John Travolta do better than this, so again I am inclined to think the director has to take some of the blame.
This may be OK as a film to get some of the important issues, that it tries to cover, in to the minds of a younger generation. I don't think it will do anything to put things right. The message is not made to those that need to hear it. A good opportunity missed, but OK for a wet afternoon with nothing else to do. -
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Mad City
In one of his strongest performances, John Travolta plays Sam Baily, a museum security guard who holds visitors hostage in an attempt to win back his job when he falls foul of museum cutbacks. Dustin Hoffman co-stars as Max Brackett, a local news reporter who seizes the hostage situation as a ...
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