Written by Luke Barnes
City Of Lies is a crime film directed by Brad Furman. The plot revolves around the death of Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls, and the possible involvement of the LAPD.
It is nice to see Johnny Depp back on screen, it has been a while. Depp plays the detective who was investigating the case and the links to the LAPD, before he was thrown off the case as he was getting too close to the corruption, he meets Forrest Whittaker’s journalist character later on in his career and the two begin to investigate the case again.
I thought the two men had a lot of on-screen chemistry together and bounced off each other really well, true in both the banter scenes and also the more emotional and intense scenes. The emotions that Whittaker’s character has at the end of the film, for reasons I won’t spoil, feel heartbreakingly true and also reflective of how you’re feeling in that moment as well.
I think that though the story is not the most inspired, as there have been very similar plots in many other crime films, the quality of the acting really lifts it that bit beyond. Furthermore, the ideas and dialogues of this film start many important questions and conversations that will add to the ongoing introspection public towards the behaviour of the police.
Overall, a very strong crime film that overcomes a generic premise with strong performances from both of its leading men.
Pros.
Whittaker
Depp
The emotions especially at the end
Adding to a cultural dialogue
Cons.
The premise is fairly generic.
4/5
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