City of Lies

I never write reviews but this movie had heart and soul behind it. Well acted and very detailed. Politics and ties to real life people are why I believe it was shelved and not given the proper release it deserved. It could have been a little better but it's heart was in the right place.

"City Of Lies" is a great movie. I loved it's complexity and how it feels like an investigation. How every moment of the film, the viewers are like investigators, looking at the crime scene and figuring out what happened, closing ties around the theories and rumors of what happened. The curious case of the murder of The Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur are among the most complicated and well known cases in the U.S of unclosed business. It is very interesting to see people's point of view around the murders and see how the investigation went wrong. Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker are among the best actors alive and their chemistry on screen is remarkable. They have great dialogue and moments. Though this movie won't give an answer over what happened to both rappers. It is a good movie that examines the cases and gives a lot of information.

I mean the wait for the movie to finally being released. As you can see the year this states is 2018 - yet it is 2021 when this finally has a release I can finally watch. Not sure what the reason for the delay was. I doubt it was the subject matter or anything controversial that is in it. But blaming the things that went on in Johnny Depps private life also seems to vague to be true.

Whatever is true, I'm glad this was finally released. I reckon this does not have much that those who are in the subject matter would not know about. It is an easy entry point for those who are only familiar with some vague dates and incidents that happened. The structure is very well done and easy to access too. Acting is great and there are connections being made that are very likely to paint a picture of what happened back then ... even when you can not be sure of everything ... and it does concentrate more on the case of Christopher Wallace (better known as Notorious BIG) rather than take up the Tupac Shakur case - the latter is being talked about, but only to then again shine more light on the other case.

Whittaker and Depp are a great pair and the supporting case is incredible too. Playing broken characters ... who seem to be fighting against windmills (yes you've probably heard that analogy before). Tension filled from start to finish ... and still frustrating most of the time too ... there is no easy way in or out and only the fact remains that we lost two of the greatest rappers of all time - probably for or over nothing.

This Movie had some impact on me. The Movie actually mainly accounts to the Death of Notorious B.I.G.

Harsh in realism, but full of passion by 2 great actors.

Harsh from the beginning , to imagine LAPD Cops acting like Straight Up Ballers.

I know Depp and Whitaker could have done better, but still I give their Passion as actors a 10, I see in this Movie, they where both affected by this never solved (hi)story. The Movie can feel slow, but it's merely to show how this Detective got caught up in this corrupted murder puzzle. Also great acting from Shea Whigham ! Definitely...a Must See!

This is a gripping crime thriller about corruption in LAPD. Johnny Depp gave an exceptional performance here after Black Mass. Forest Whitaker did well too. It has shades of JFK movie, but couldn't achieve that greatness. This movie should have been released, it's a shame that it got stuck due to controversy. More people should watch this movie.