Movie Breakdown: City Of Lies

Pre-Screening Stance:

City Of Lies started shooting in 2016 and was supposed to hit theaters in 2018, but a lawsuit involving Johnny Depp and the film’s location manager resulted in it being tossed on a shelf somewhere. Now, it’s finally get a release, and if I’m honest, it’s fairly difficult to have much faith in it being good.

Post-Screening Ramble:

City Of Lies is a mess. It’s a film that wants to not just look at the murder of Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G.), but also corruption in the LAPD, racism, personal integrity and about a million other bits, which is its main problem. Maybe if the film had drilled down on one or two of those things, it could have been something that worked, but as it stands it’s just a big jumble of topics and timelines. On the performance side of things, I do think the film features people doing solid work. Johnny Depp brings a gruff, old school detective feel to his Russell Poole, and Forest Whitaker is very self righteous as Jackson, a once-great journalist. Unfortunately though, neither are given anything interesting to do or say. So, they’re there, they’re trying, but it all just falls flat because director Brad Furman, again, just has no idea what story needs to actually be told in City Of Lies. You should pass on this one.

The film will open in select theaters this Friday, March 19, and will hit VOD on April 9.

One Last Thought:

I know Johnny Depp has had a massive myriad of legal issues, but it’s still pretty crazy to see just how much of a errant turn his career has taken. He’s gone from must see to … well, whatever he is now. In my opinion, the talent is still there, so I wonder if eventually he’ll shake off the bad everything and climb his way back into relevance.