Ever since he stopped being Marky Mark and became a proper actor, Mark Wahlberg has always seemed at his most comfortable on the big screen as part of a strong ensemble cast (a la breakout "Boogie Nights") or stealing scenes as a supporting player. Be it in the likes of “Planet of the Apes,” “The Italian Job,” “The Happening” or “Max Payne,” for a long time it looked like he just wasn’t going to cut it as a leading man. Of course there may have been a few exceptions along the way (and feel free to point them out in the comments), but it seemed like two significant things happened in the last few years that have changed that.
First he discovered comedy. After being great in “Date Night,” Wahlberg knocked it out of the park with both “The Other Guys” and “Ted.” And second, he started producing projects as vehicles for himself. Maybe it was always the case that Wahlberg was being cast in parts that were wrong for him, but “The Fighter” and “Contraband” allowed him to play to his strengths and he was great in both. Wahlberg’s next movie, which he both produced and starred in, is “Broken City,” and after his current run of success, we’re really looking forward to it.
Entertainment Weekly have debuted some new stills from the Allen Hughes (one of The Hughes Brothers) directed film, which will see Wahlberg playing a former cop who is hired by New York City’s mayor (Russell Crowe) to tail his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones – who is enjoying somewhat of a big screen renaissance) and find out whether she is having an affair. However, while doing so Wahlberg’s cop uncovers a far bigger corruption scandal and decides to take the mayor down.
The stills show Wahlberg looking troubled/pensieve/determined (*insert adjective that adequately describes Marky Mark’s expression here*) in front of the ever-reliable NYC backdrop, and another with Zeta-Jones being ominously manhandled by Crowe. They don’t tell us an awful lot, but luckily they come with a couple of new quotes that do! Wahlberg tells us to expect “elements of movies I grew up loving, like 'Chinatown': really strong characters, plot points you didn’t see coming.” He also describes the film as a “smart adult movie” while hinting that it cost about $60-70m to make.
We like what we’ve seen and heard so far, and if we’re still drawing “Chinatown” comparisons after the film’s January 13th release then it will have been a job well done for all involved.
