I wish I had one of those wrong answer sound effects I could add to this blog as I point out the untruths in Jeannette Catsoulis’s NYT review of City of Lies.
Wrong answer buzzer one: ‘the latest attempt to monetize the unsolved 1990’s murder of Christopher Wallace”? Really Jeannette? You think Brad Furman actually thought he was going to make money on this movie released during a pandemic with a star that’s bordering on the cancel culture precipice?
Wrong buzzer two: ‘with rather more appetite than artistry’. Police procedural are usually more believable without choreographed dance. The movie was about Russell Poole (played brilliantly by the aforementioned described Johnny Depp) and his noble obsession with the truth. A close second focus was the relationship Poole develops with journalist Forest Whitaker, who also shines brightly as the sometimes clumsy partner seeking justice.
Last buzzer: ‘dreary…misbegotten mush…and dead ends’. Guess what Jeannette? That’s what exactly happens when the truth is so buried in the sediment of corruption that it can’t be found. As some wise sage tweeted: we can find who stole Tom Brady’s jersey, but we can’t find Biggie’s killer….yes Jeannette, that is dreary.
Bravo to Christian Contreras for putting together a script of so many loose ends and still having it make sense.
City of Lies, in this film: LA, but applicable to many
