City of Lies

Furman's movie lacks the craft or the confidence to address the unresolved questions of institutional cancer.

City of Lies is more James Ellroy than docudrama, resulting in a tired police thriller that hitched its wagon to an untenable star.

As a thriller, it never quite reaches its boiling point, which may be one reason it's been sitting on the shelf since 2018. But as the portrait of a man obsessed and the forces stacked up against him, it earns its stripes.

It's interesting from a forensic standpoint... It ties whole things [about the case] together.

Depp and Forest Whitaker go for authenticity in the gritty drama reminiscent of '70s procedurals.

The Depp-Whitaker acting duet glues this messy movie together, along with hard-boiled true-crime elements, gritty L.A. backdrops, cherry cars and a propulsive soundtrack that includes Tupac Shakur, N.W.A. and Biggie.

Ultimately doesn't do justice to the story of Biggie's death, even as a fictionalized work.

The lesson is solid even as the huge production fails to generate the chemistry promised by its cast and crew.

City of Lies (directed by Brad Furman) focuses on the Biggie Smalls murder case in such a lukewarm and unremarkable way that people will be better off watching any of the several documentaries about the same subject.

Johnny Depp is back in good form as an ex-cop seeking the truth about a famous murder. Forest Whitaker matches him step to step as an investigative reporter. A solid combination.