I think this scene killed the whole movie. I'm not saying it wasn't well acted by Pacino but it was unnessasary and in no way believable that the family of the murdered boy would buy Pacino's political soapbox with with the OTT performance.
If they had retaliated against him it would have made more sense rather than make Pacino an invincible character. For what it's worth his performance of the Mayor I thought was untouchable on speech without this sequence
I actually disagree. After just watching City Hall, I thought the scene in the church was stunningly and illustrated the fuzzy lines between at-all-costs politicial stratagems and the naive, utopian ideals most enter politics with.
It was well delivered by pacino, but, the asides to his aides and their distant, almost reflective reactions to the speech struck me as indicative of those fuzzy lines that is the underlying thread throughout the whole movie.
re: the OTT presentation of the speech...maybe it's a cliché and I'm stereotyping or generalising too much, but, aren't most gospel church celebrations OTT as standard?
and that my friend represents exactly why the congregation would have seen through it... It's they're OTT platform and not a white mans.
The whole point of this scene is to make you believe that Pappas is this great and wonderful governor, and why Calhoun has so much respect for him... to throw you (and Calhoun) off of the fact that he is actually part of the conspiracy.
shareI thought the church scene was thrilling (I'm a sucker for an OTT Pacino performance - AKA the OTTPP - but thought the church congregation fell for it too easily. There should have been a couple of church goers who thought it was OTTPP BS. I enjoyed most of the scenes with Pacino and Cusack. People who want more out of this movie are asking for too much. Pacino rocks - but he rocks usually in the same way - some directors know how to harness it and others don't. This has been my favorite Pacino performance along with Heat and Scarface (his best OTTPP IMHO).
shareI agree. It's a brilliant piece of oratory, and fits entirely within the character of the populist mayor (surely modeled in part on LaGuardia) and the film. It's a crisis: personal for the child's family, criminal because of the bad cops, and political for obvious reasons. To have the mayor step in to try to address and resolve these issues by giving a speech, which is what politicians do after all, makes perfect sense.
I mean, Guiliani, a much less gifted speaker than Al (needless to say!) made his reputation in the days following 9/11, in large part by actual leadership of course, but in some measure by showing up and giving speeches. Was he accused of political grandstanding? Sure. Was he? Of course. But I'd say that he also provided emotional comfort and a focus point for the city. Likewise, as noted above, Al's speech shows genuine empathy and an insight into the positive aspects of his character and career.
Finally, Al's speech is a eulogy. It's supposed to be cathartic. All in all, it's really a perfect excuse for an OTT moment, and Al is (of course) up to the challenge!
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The speech to the grieving father and community was totally believable to me because I have seen it up close and personal and that is just the way things are. What is there to retaliate against? Death? Accidents? Stupidity? Loss? Pain? Reality? Besides, the grieving families will receive a huge chunk of money and the profiteers will continue to profit.
Don't sweat the small stuff
This scene was bombastic and inappropriate.
And, yes, I agree that if any scene sunk the movie, this was it. What I found so offensive about it, was that it practically ended with a pep-rally feeling to it. Not exactly the right way to go about commemorating a shooting victim.
And, I would add that Giuliani's actions after 9.11 did not accurately reflect the shameless nature of Al Pacino's character in this funeral. He was very reserved and statesman-like after 9/11. If anything, that period revealed a part of Giuliani most New Yorkers had not seen.
While it might be argued that Giuliani took advantage of the spotlight as the mayor of NYC after 9/11, he conducted himself in a fairly understated and solemn manner, worlds different from the absurdity that is Al Pacino's character in this church scene.
I half-expected him to cry - "She's got a GREAT ASS!!!"
=)
The marriage was built to last.
But, their house was built TOO SMALL!
"This is NOT awesome!"
I found his speech self-serving, offensive and irritating. I kept thinking that the funeral was supposed to be about the child and AP's character turned it into a freaky political sideshow. There should have been more sensitivity directed at the family from the mayor. The funeral was about the little boy and his family, not something to further the mayor's political agenda. I think the family of the little boy would've been angry at the obvious political grandstanding and told him off right then and there had it been a more realistic depiction of the situation. When everyone in the church was buying into it, it seemed very unrealistic to me. Maybe decades ago people might've bought it but not in today's world.
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Actually more like
Were coming out ... gunz blazing
But that would have been too sarcastic ?
Any last words ?
Shut the *beep* up
i too thought it was a great scene..and while yes, it would be inevitable for people to see a white politician speaking at a murdered black boy's funeral, i think the scene worked..
if you watch it again, you see that the congragation does NOT immediately get teary eyed for the mayor...eventually they do, but after minutes and sentences go by where they believe that this man might be speaking from the heart
was it a bit over the top, sure...but there is over the top bad, and over the top good..i think this was the latter
it is better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it
I may be wrong about this, but I watched City Hall for the first time last night and I could swear Pacino says the child is "pure as the driven snow" instead of "pure as the un-driven snow". Is this a real goof? I may have not been paying attention too closely, I'll have to rent it sometime.
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum."
What he does is very very smart and cunning, politically. He goes in, in to a hostile situation, and turns it around. And how does he do that? By making himself into what he believes is their kind of hero. Think of it, black people, and a church. What he does, is making himself into a black oratoric reverend, Martin Luther King-style. And that's why he's so bombastic, that's why he's so over the top. Because, he believes it is what they want to see in a leader. He talks down to them, by making himself into one of their own. And that's why they buy it, he's pushing all the right buttons.
I have been to a funeral in a black church. 3 different politicains got up and gave speechs supposedly about the departed and the mourners were OK with it.
Where are the flying cars? I want my flying car!
"As pure as the driven snow" is the correct phrase. Driven snow has remained untrodden, thus, purer.
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