Opinion Editorial Section - Page C2
CITY HALL THE MOVIE. FRESNO SNAPSHOT?
by Howard Hobbs, Ph.D., Economics Editor
PALO ALTO - Near the close of the film "City Hall" a young idealist and a seasoned politician come to recognize they're not as far apart as they thought at the beginning of the plot. This encounter, is unlikely in the real world of Fresno or even Clovis City Hall, however.
Yet, City Hall, the movie, does seem to be a film about all-too familiar politicians like some in Fresno and even in Clovis, with formidable ambitions, trying to get a handle on urban homicides, car thefts, corruption, bribery, power politics, and sexual harassment in school district offices both before and after hours.
All this, seems to be part of a grim tale of urban corruption that hits too close to home!
"City Hall" has the recognizable ingredients of the Fresno and even Clovis continuing City Hall expose, "Operation Rezone", the Justice Department file.
The casting of Al Pacino as City Hall's ambitious mayor, John Pappas, adds to one of the film's more believable aspects, right down to the fact that Pacino's Mayor Pappas can sound as much like a school administrator, preacher, or a history professor as any veteran of the local political wars.
The movie role provides Pacino some opportunities to show off his manipulative cunning. Sneakiness seems to be the sine qua non of leadership in the present City Hall inner sanctum.
The writers of this movie plot count on theater audiences recognizing their own local politicians at City Hall in this film. To reinforce that image, script writers leave the movie audience with politicians mouthing cliche-riddled boilerplate which might well have been written by some highly paid Fresno or Clovis political consultants and PR hired-guns.
Many of the story's loose ends remind the viewer this movie is very much like real life at City Hall in Fresno and even Clovis these days.
The movie's Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun is played by John Cusack with laid-back slickness that qualifies him as Mayor Pappas's devious right-hand bag-man.
Cusak is the movie's narrator who explains and unravels the movie's investigative plot like a confession in a Grand Jury deposition that will get some of the charges dropped against him but implicate other political cronies and x-friends.
At the center of this tale is how the Chairman of County Democratic Party is the deal-brokering agent for non-partisan office holders at City Hall and real estate interests.
"City Hall" the movie, starts with a stray bullet killing a 6-year-old child, just as the mayor is greeting Japanese investors. A quiet investigation of the shooting, leads to the possibility of police and judicial corruption.
Early in the film, there's a scene of City Hall politicians meeting with real estate developers, and later a meeting between the mayor and real estate developers in the lobby of a Broadway theater where city planning variations are bought and paid for. Pacino is also in top form here, easily demonstrating how Pappas got his mansion and how he may go even further unless the FBI, the IRS, and the Fair Political Practices Commissions finds out about his laundered political contributions!
These movie scenes are so much like what Fresno and even Clovis City Hall are like that a movie goer has the feeling of deja vu throughout much of the story.
It's also surprising how the movie plot leaps to convenient coincidences that are so like real life in Fresno and even Clovis, that no-one would believe,if it were in a movie script. Or so they say.
Lest we forget, there is the supporting role played by Martin Landau, a City judge whose record of conflicts of interest and financial dealings in real estate parcels comes into question.
Lucky I sat through the credits at the end of the film. Confirming my own reaction to the correlation of the plot of the movie to reality, there was screen credit given for the writers which included Ken Lipper (Deputy Mayor of New York City during the Koch administration), and Paul Schrader, Nicholas Pileggi and Bo Goldman.
But, the same script might be easily rewritten in many cities other than New York. Like Fresno, and even Clovis California. Maybe. Unlike real-life, the movie was very funnny!
CITY HALL, the movie:
Cast: Al Pacino (Mayor John Pappas), John Cusack (Kevin Calhoun), Bridget Fonda (Marybeth Cogan), Danny Aiello (Frank Anselmo), Martin Landau (Judge Walter Stern), David Paymer (Abe Goodman), Anthony Franciosa (Paul Zapatti) and Lauren Velez (Elaine Santos).
Directed by Harold Becker; written by Ken Lipper, Paul Schrader, Nicholas Pileggi and Bo Goldman; director of photography, Michael Seresin; edited by Robert C. Jones and David Bretherton; music by Jerry Goldsmith; production designer, Jane Musky; produced by Edward R. Pressman, Lipper, Charles Mulvehill and Becker; released by Castle Rock Entertainment. Running time: 110 minute
Rating: ``City Hall'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes fleeting violence and scattered profanity.
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