City of Lies
Directed by: Brad Furman
Written by: Christian Contreras - Based on the book "Labyrinth" by Randall Sullivan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Toby Huss, Dayton Callie, Neil Brown Jr., Shea Whigham, Xander Berkeley, Shamier Anderson, Laurence Mason, Michael Varé, Amin Joseph, Joshua M. Hardwick, Rockmond Dunbar, Peter Greene, Voletta Wallace
Biography/Crime/Drama - 112 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 17 Mar 2021
Written by: Christian Contreras - Based on the book "Labyrinth" by Randall Sullivan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Toby Huss, Dayton Callie, Neil Brown Jr., Shea Whigham, Xander Berkeley, Shamier Anderson, Laurence Mason, Michael Varé, Amin Joseph, Joshua M. Hardwick, Rockmond Dunbar, Peter Greene, Voletta Wallace
Biography/Crime/Drama - 112 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 17 Mar 2021
Early in City of Lies, Forest Whitaker (Black Panther), in voiceover as long in the tooth journalist Jack Jackson, rambles on about the importance of sticking to the facts. Don’t let emotion get in the way. The truth is all you should be after. Then why is Brad Furman’s film smothered in off-putting melodrama? Detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) just can’t let the Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G., murder case go. It destroys his personal and professional life. Jack is working on a "20 year after the murder" retrospective and this veteran who trumpets stoicism as the the journalist’s abiding dogma falls so deep into an emotional well, he’ll never come up for air again.
City of Lies was supposed to be released way back in 2018. There are rumors the LAPD, who come off looking more corrupt than a New York City crime family, turned the screws and got the film shelved. The official investigation into the murder of Christopher Wallace remains open. This is a huge benefit to the city of Los Angeles. While the case is open, Voletta Wallace, Christopher’s mother, cannot sue the city over the city’s worst kept secret, that corrupt LAPD cops most likely planned and helped execute Christopher’s murder. The city would go bankrupt on the civil financial penalties, but I’m not sure it could hurt their already abysmal reputation.
City of Lies was supposed to be released way back in 2018. There are rumors the LAPD, who come off looking more corrupt than a New York City crime family, turned the screws and got the film shelved. The official investigation into the murder of Christopher Wallace remains open. This is a huge benefit to the city of Los Angeles. While the case is open, Voletta Wallace, Christopher’s mother, cannot sue the city over the city’s worst kept secret, that corrupt LAPD cops most likely planned and helped execute Christopher’s murder. The city would go bankrupt on the civil financial penalties, but I’m not sure it could hurt their already abysmal reputation.
Jack is a one-dimensional tool to get Detective Poole to tell his story. Poole has the long list of suspects and key evidence in his head and tacked all over his shitty apartment walls. The best way to get him to somewhat logically piecemeal out the players and timeline is to have a journalist peck at the shell bit by bit. Jack is also the film’s reaction shot. Every time Poole’s boss, Lieutenant O’Shea (Dayton Callie), says to stop looking into a prime suspect or eventually removed Poole from the case, Jack bulges his eyes out of their sockets and slackens his jaw toward the floor. How could the LAPD be so shady? Why let the murderers roam free? If in fact the LAPD had a few of its boys in blue in on the murder, I have a hunch their reputation would be far better off if they helped expose the crimes rather than attempt one of the worst cover-ups in history.
Based on the book “Labyrinth” by Randall Sullivan and adapted for the screen by first time screenwriter Christian Contreras, City of Lies is outstanding at provoking outrage and an urgent sense of anger at the LAPD. However, the dialogue is so coarsely written and shoddily edited together, this should not be the final work on trying to piece together how and why Death Row Records corrupted LAPD cops and allegedly murdered Biggie Smalls. Jack and Poole verbally throw down on the regular for no reason whatsoever. When Jack learns a new factoid, his first reaction is to yell at Poole before waiting for the explanation. The murky facts and assumptions would be strong enough to carry the film; however, Furman shoots his project in the foot with inane window dressing like Poole staring up at the blindfolded statue of justice or Jack flipping over his desk at work. This entire odyssey of dirty cops and decades without answers is far louder than any manipulated shouting match or violence perpetuated on furniture.
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