Skip to content
City Hall episode artwork

EPISODE · Dec 14, 2023 · 1H 9M

City Hall

from Unclear and Present Danger · host Jamelle Bouie

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Jamelle and John watched “City Hall,” a 1996 political drama directed by Harold Becker and starring Al Pacino, John Cusack, Danny Aiello, Bridget Fonda, David Paymer and Martin Landau. You’ll also notice a beardless Richard Schiff, Lauren Velez, and Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. In “City Hall,” Cusack plays Kevin Calhoun, the loyal deputy to Mayor John Pappas, played by Al Pacino. After a young boy and a police detective are killed in a sting gone wrong, Calhoun has to navigate a tense political situation in effort to bring the crisis to a resolution without harming the rising prospects of his boss. Unfortunately, as he soon discovers with the help of Marybeth Cogan, a lawyer for the slain cop played by Fonda, behind the deaths are a tangled web of corruption that reaches from the political machine to the courts to the mayor’s office itself. The tagline for “City Hall” is “It started with a shootout on a rainswept street and ended in a scandal that shattered New York.” You can get “City Hall” for rent or purchase on Amazon and iTunes. Our next episode will be on “Crimson Tide.” Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck. Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And join the Unclear and Present Patreon! For just $5 a month, patrons get access to a bonus show on the films of the Cold War, and much, much more.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Dec 14, 2023

Embed this episode

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Jamelle and John watched “City Hall,” a 1996 political drama directed by Harold Becker and starring Al Pacino, John Cusack, Danny Aiello, Bridget Fonda, David Paymer and Martin Landau. You’ll also notice a beardless Richard Schiff, Lauren Velez, and Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. In “City Hall,” Cusack plays Kevin Calhoun, the loyal deputy to Mayor John Pappas, played by Al Pacino. After a young boy and a police detective are killed in a sting gone wrong, Calhoun has to navigate a tense political situation in effort to bring the crisis to a resolution without harming the rising prospects of his boss. Unfortunately, as he soon discovers with the help of Marybeth Cogan, a lawyer for the slain cop played by Fonda, behind the deaths are a tangled web of corruption that reaches from the political machine to the courts to the mayor’s office itself.

Distinct summary based on available episode metadata or transcript content.

Ready to play

City Hall

0:00 1:09:02

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Unclear and Present Danger?

This episode is 1 hour and 9 minutes long.

When was this Unclear and Present Danger episode published?

This episode was published on December 14, 2023.

Can I download this Unclear and Present Danger episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!