A corrupt mayor will do anything to prevent the release of a crack smoking video in Filth City. Tom Hogg (Pat Thornton), the mayor of the city of York, is filmed smoking crack at a party by a teenager named Smush (Lamar Johnson), who gives the video to his friend Monica (Melinda Shankar). With an election coming up, Hogg is willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure that the tape does not become public, usually by enlisting the help of corrupt Police Lieutenant Diaz (Lenno Britos). Meanwhile, after being kicked off the force following a drug bust gone wrong, former officer Randy Kapowski (Danny Polishchuk) takes it upon himself to uncover Mayor Hogg’s corruption, with the help of drug addicted computer hacker Dennis D’Amato (Keven Soldo).
Filth City, directed by first time filmmaker Andy King, has been making quite a few headlines lately, since the story is quite obviously influenced by the scandals surrounding late former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Beginning its life as a web series, Filth City is divided up into 12 chapters that tells the story of the scandals and corruption plaguing the city of York, whether it be the central crack video, an ongoing garbage strike, or Hogg’s plans to develop a waterfront monstrosity.
While Filth City is indeed the type of controversial story that will infuriate the political right, it turns out to be a surprisingly well produced film. While the episodic nature does affect the pacing somewhat, the story actually goes past the real life inspirations. Pat Thornton gives off a big Chris Farley vibe as Tom Hogg, who is often more a big red faced buffoon than anything else, While Filth City undoubtedly pushes some buttons, it ends up being a well done mix of big city satire and exploitation film.
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