'Broken City' could use some fixing

It should come as no surprise that every character in a movie called “Broken City” is either rotten to the core, or a liar, or a schemer, or the bearer of seriously damaging secrets.

What is surprising — and frustrating, really — is that these characters never feel like real people, despite a series of twists that should reveal hidden, unexpected facets of their personalities and despite being played by big-name stars including Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They’re all still conniving, only with varying alliances and targets.