Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely Fantastic

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film really shows you, much more than others what media people can do, and what they really can be like, like enthusiastic newbie (Kirshner) assigned with journalist, Hoffman on a job, her first, to interview a museum director. I hope, she likes to wait it out, cause it will be a long one coming, as disgruntled nutter/employee Travolta, takes over the museum, holding a school class hostage, as well as Hoffman, who I guess made a mistake, of going to the bathroom. But really, could this be a mistake, as just think what this story will do. It could put him back with big runners, where years prior, he had a falling out with big wig reporter (Alda) who returns, stealing the story, and manipulating the truth. Mad City becomes mostly a one set piece, inside the museum, as the hours dwindle, and tempers and frustration build. Yes, we've seen movies like this before, like Dog Day Afternoon, relying on Hoffman and Travolta to steer the story. I never felt bored with this, and found this film deliciously entertaining, where the story and plot is kept in check, never veering away, or losing sight of it's objective, with one dynamite finale, tragic, sad, but disturbing too, as for the heartlessness, or some media, especially Kirshner, where at the end, I truly found her attitude sickening. This is a story of an everyday man, once an air force pilot, quite hard to believe with Travolta's mummy like character (throwing tantrums, e.g. palm slapping the head repeatedly) that this pro does it well, trying to beat the odds and providing for his family, ejected from his job, as to cut down costs. It's such a tired and real tale, and makes this film more potent. Hoffman is in top form, where I'm really glad he did it, where him and J.T. make a great team, and I really liked the friendship that formed here. It really added something special to this film. Performances are good all around, Danner especially, as the bitter old museum director. Although Mad City missed a cinema release, where the poster was put up, it's one I'm glad I caught. Although a little hammy, it's a near two hour entertainer, hostage drama, that will keep you glued to the screen.

Costa Gavras' "Mad City" sees actor Dustin Hoffman playing Max Brackett, a television reporter who uses a recent news story to boost his own career. The news story? A recently laid-off security guard returns to the museum at which he worked in an attempt to get his job back. When his former boss (the unsubtly named Mrs Banks) refuses his demands, the security guard goes berserk and holds the entire museum, which is filled with school children, hostage. The film is derivative of Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network", Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" and William Wellman's "Magic Town", but nevertheless goes in some interesting directions. For example, the film uses the Natural History Museum in an ironic fashion, the world of history bulldozed by media, America a soul deadened prison reliant on sensationalized news stories and a constant trickle of crass reports to drum up excitement. The kids held hostage are themselves unfazed, their lives a gun filled television show even before the news vans pulled up.6.5/10 – All of Costa Gavras' Hollywood films are weaker than his foreign language films, but this one is the weakest. Overlong, and badly acted, "Mad City" nevertheless manages to be at once dumber and more complex than its generally given credit. I attribute this paradox to magic.

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!!

Taking a break from "handsome" roles, John Travolta plays Sam Baily, hijacking a museum to demand his job back. Reporter Max Brackett (Dustin Hoffman) happens to be inside when this happens and gets the whole story. But before long, the whole thing becomes a media spectacle.I should identify that "Mad City" is neither about condemning nor glorifying the media. It shows how our media-dominated society looks for anything to make news. We would probably expect that Costa-Gavras, who directed "Z" and "Missing", would do a good job, and he doesn't disappoint. Also starring Mia Kirshner, Alan Alda, Robert Prosky, Blythe Danner, William Atherton, Ted Levine and Lucinda Jenney.