Article updated: 1/18/2013 4:03 PM

Wahlberg, Crowe wasted in unconvincing 'Broken City'

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Ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) gets caught up in a political scandal in "Broken City."

New York City Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe), left, hires a private eye with a shady past (Mark Wahlberg) in "Broken City."

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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.