City of Lies

I came across this movie by chance while searching for something to watch. I wasn't expecting much, given the rating, but I got pleasantly surprised.

This is a solid movie, with great acting and an interesting and engaging story. I'm not from the US and I'm not really into rap, so I can't speak for the accuracy from a historical standpoint. But it was very entertaining. More like a 7.5 in my opinion. So if you had any doubts, watch it, you won't regret it.

I won´t go into details of the plot, since it can be found in the description of the movie. Whitaker is outstanding in this movie imo. His natural performance and presence gives life and authenticity to the character of journalist Jack Jackson. Johnny Depp is a surprise. Playing the aging retired police officer Russell Poole, his performance is well balanced, reduced and dedicated to capture the truth of Poole´s ambition and motivation. Whitaker and Depp harmonize, and it shows in the dialogues between Jackson and Poole. Two outstanding actors in an ambitioned movie about a timeless subject: finding truth in a swamp of lies.

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.

Really good film showing the real life of what really went on beneath the surface of the hip hop industry a must see film Depp and Whitaker pulled it off as usual.

"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.