It's reasonably entertaining and has a few interesting ideas but "Mad City" is an overly familiar thriller that runs out of gas about halfway through. The tone is all over the place and it essentially feels like two different movies. Dustin Hoffman is really solid but John Travolta sadly feels miscast and it only skims the surface of the themes it's attempting to explore. Watchable enough but there's a reason this is pretty forgotten.

This Travolta performance is so dead on arrival, so muted and closed off yet schticky and showy at the same time. It has all the Pacino in Dog Day nervous energy but zero insight or discovery into who this man is and why he's doing what he's doing. He's actually closer to Rain Man than Pacino, which is odd that he's paired with Hoffman. And they're terrible together. It's like they never even look at each other in the film. They're in totally separate films. And the story is playing off of media exploitation and falling flat where Dog Day sang, and then a bomb goes off and Dustin Hoffman's stuntman falls down the museum steps in slow motion and it's clearly not Hoffman and it's a total wet noodle yawnfest.

5/10

This movie was just ridiculous. However it's basically like cinematic junk food. There is some enjoyment to it. It's always nice to see Dustin Hoffman in a movie because he's so natural. Travolta.....really tries. A little too goofy and preachy at times.

Okay it may not be very good but the cast is STACKED and the ending is amazing.

Although Hoffman and Alda give the sort of strong performance you would expect, Travolta is sadly limp and weary. There's no real suspense, and there's nothing meaningful said about the media nor society that Network hadn't already pointed out over 20 years previously.

Watched as part of my assignment!

Mad City looks very simple and little goofy during the first hour. There is an unrealistic situation, characters that seem one-dimensional and a bit overacting John Travolta. The dialogues doesn’t seem good too sometimes. However, it is still exciting to watch as there is Dustin Hoffman who really takes all the attention. His character Max Brackett is confident, competent, have some great lines and is really believable as a journalist. Also the humour is really good.

The film definitely improves during the second half as it becomes more satirical, there appears to be a serious conflict and the main duo have some really dynamic relationship which culminates in an unexpectedly solid ending.

If you are interested in watching more films about journalism, this film is undoubtfully is a recommendation as it perfectly shows how media could manipulate people. Also a decent performance of Dustin Hoffman as a journalist really shows.

Hoffman is always strong when he's a character facing a moral compass dilemma, and in this he shines, but despite his best efforts Travolta's Sam Baily feels stale from the start which drops this one off from where it could be.

A complete lack of realism sinks this compelling concept.

When we are increasingly out of touch with reality but in tune with 'real time', live tv news feedback etc then there's barely an economic compensation if any at all just like reality, distorting to vanish by the end. I also heard complaints about Travolta not catching enough attention for being, virtually and unusually, a supporting actor during this whole movie but I can only attribute this to how people can't accept the stupidity of his character which he ennacts convincingly enough. I doubt this is Costa-Gavras masterpiece but it isn't as bad as people pretend it is or could have been.

Who said a hostage situation can't be fun for the victims involved?

Once it became clear this was gonna be a 110 minute siege movie I was out.

There's a good idea in Mad City but it fails to live up to its promise.

Dustin Hoffman is tremendous value as Max Brackett, a scuzzy reporter who accidentally finds himself trapped in a museum when a hostage situation is unwittingly started by fired security guard Sam Bailey (John Travolta). Beckett gleefully manipulates the situation to his advantage but soon finds himself up against America's biggest anchorman (played by a brilliant Alan Alda) who wants to manipulate the story to his own end.

Sadly Travolta isn't very believable in his role, and while he's full of wired energy, he never quite comes off as the simple, but idealistic provider he's trying so hard to convey.

There's a solid story about how the media manipulates situations so they're never to the advantage of the people or events they are portraying, but because this is Hollywood prime time it ultimately lacks any real bite.

Mediocre film by tootsie kramer and saturday night broken arrow dude.

Очень увлекательный и необычный камерный фильм, основные события которого проходят внутри музея между случайным преступником и некогда популярным журналистом, которых судьба закинула в данные обстоятельства. 

Журналист в исполнении Дастина Хоффмана всячески пытается помочь преступнику в исполнении Джона Траволты выйти из сложившейся ситуации, освободить всех заложников и получить расположение телезрителей, которые следят за ситуацией по телевизору.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

You can’t tell me otherwise, John Travolta is a talented actor and a fantastic leading man. 

This film was buried, hard to find in any standard search. Somehow, searching through IMDB, I stumbled upon it and I’m glad I tracked it down and rented it - for 1.99. Worth it.

Hoffman is superb, Alda also great, but Travolta as he usually is in the 80s and 90s gems I’ve found is great as expected. The guy is electric, always the most interesting thing on the screen.

This little 90s gem is riddled with some great bits and one liners, some solid Mel Gibson digs and is overall a great 90s dramatic thriller. Emphasis on the dramatic.

dia de cão, mas sem o carisma de pacino e com a cara idiota do travolta

seen it before but forgotten all of it. its trying to say something about the disenfranchised, lower class, lower intelligence and the dangers of a breaking point. about the blights of fame or maybe rather the things a person will do to get fame. its not poignant at all though as we get a doofy travolta trying to pull off complex emotions like first year acting class, and then you get hoffman doing his mumbling clever man routine to a T all while manipulating the situation into tragedy and then the film wants us to feel sorry for him. i wasnt really picking up what it was putting down despite it trying real hard..

watched