Mad City is a 1997 American thriller drama film directed by Costa-Gavras, written by Tom Matthews based on a story by Matthews and Eric Williams, and starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta, with a supporting cast featuring Mia Kirshner, Alan Alda, Blythe Danner, Ted Levine, Raymond J. Barry and Larry King.

Local television journalist Max Brackett is in the museum using the restroom after an interview with the curator about financial difficulties.

He later fires the weapon again, frightening the children and becoming increasingly unstable as he takes caffeine pills to stay awake.

Along with the young intern coworker Laurie among the growing media circus outside, Brackett reports the inside story exclusively on television, reviving his career.

By being free to come and go, he negotiates with a national network and its star news anchorman, Kevin Hollander, with whom Brackett has an unhappy history.

"[6] At the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, Travolta was nominated for Worst Actor, but lost to Tom Arnold for McHale's Navy.