mfreemanleadman All of his fantastic work gets thrown out of the window with this cliché driven film. Each and every character and every line of this film is a cliché. This continues another long line of John Travolta films that prove that 80 percent of his films and the portrayals in them are horrible. This might be one of his worst. He does the same acting tricks that he did in "Michael" and "Phenomenon." I watch this, and I cannot help but laugh at how bad he is. And if you believe for one second that this scenario could actually happen, then you are sorely mislead and misled. All of the other actors can't be criticized as badly as Travolta; they probably thought that working with Costa-Gavras was an honor and they are only as good (bad) as the script. Gavras must have been near the end of his career and the likely scenario is that an American Studio believed that having his name on the film was good business.

Bene Cumb Although they tend to criticize them and to find their weak spots... As there is tough competition and rivalry in (private) networks, persons with high ambition and need for fame and glory are eager to exploit any person and item for their own benefit. Mostly it is comical, but at times it takes serious or event tragic scope - when/if innocent people, victims or their families are involved. And in the era of online search engines, it is impossible to leave things behind and move on with their lives.The duo Dustin Hoffman - John Travolta is brilliant, at least 2 additional points from me because of them. Other actors are good as well. As for Costa-Cavras, he has directed better stuff: there are twists and turns, but tension is sometimes falling, and those almost two hours are too much for this story. The ending is predictable as well.Nevertheless, Mad City is deserves more attention and bigger ratings than it has achieved. It is no family entertainment, however.

bkoganbing Mad City is almost a remake of Billy Wilder's Ace In The Hole with a bit of Network thrown in. The Kirk Douglas part has shifted to a television reporter and it's played with relish by Dustin Hoffman. By sheer chance Hoffman is in the Museum Of Natural History when a security guard who's been laid off due to budget cuts, pulls a shotgun out of canvas bag and holds museum director Blythe Danner, a school teacher and her class who were out on a field trip just as the museum is closing. Oh and he accidentally shoots his former co-worker security guard Bill Nunn as well. That kind of seals his fate.As good as Dustin Hoffman is the film really belongs to John Travolta as the desperate security guard, a slow witted kind of man who really hasn't thought through what he's doing. Hoffman realizing he's got an exclusive story becomes Travolta's media adviser, stringing it out for all it's worth. Travolta has to walk a fine line in this film, balancing his character's situation in his portrayal. We empathize with him, many of us who have ever been desperate and without a paycheck, but we can't sympathize with a man who's holding a whole bunch of grade school kids hostage. Sam Bailey ranks as one of the two or three best pieces of work John Travolta has ever done. In the meantime Hoffman who is also mentoring young reporter Mia Kirshner, too well as it turns out, has also got a rivalry with network anchor Alan Alda. One thing I've noticed about Alan Alda, since he's left MASH, he's gone out of his way to take roles that are the farthest thing from good guy Hawkeye Pierce. He and Hoffman hate each other and Alda's attempts to spin the story his way and Hoffman's countermoves are what really set up the inevitable climax.Mad City is not very nice look at the news business and what people will do to get a story. The film has its roots not only in Ace In The Hole and Network, but you could make a case going all the way back to Five Star Final and other films showing the darker side of reporting and the agenda driven people in that business.Sad to say is that the news is business, show business in fact. In the end poor Travolta had to get off the stage.

Lexi Kehl I thought this was an excellent movie! It is of course excellent because it has two fantastic actors in it: John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman. They are spectacular actors and whoever decide to put them in the same movie is a pure genius!! When i was reading about it i didn't think it would be my type of movie (even though John Travolta is my favorite actor!) but when i did watch it i thought it was great! Although i was very sad at the end when Sam commits suicide, his poor wife and family but that shows what a splendid actor John Travolta is,he really makes you feel sorry for him even when its not real. Dustin Hoffman is a wonderful actor as well and i really think this movie should get some sort of award because it was outstanding!!My hat goes off to John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman and The director!!