Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

City of Lies Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 25, 2021

Those fans who are more or less convinced there was some kind of nefarious conspiracy that took the lives of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. may have more ammunition to add to their arsenal, not merely due to the fact that City of Lies is ostensibly about just such a conspiracy, but the fact that the film was evidently shot as far back as 2016 and 2017, and the film was slated to be screened starting in 2018. A number of intervening events occurred, including reported lawsuits involving Depp (not those lawsuits), and as a result the film only had a very brief release overseas at the tail end of 2018 (evidently including a Blu-ray release in Italy). Things then quieted down until Saban Films suddenly announced earlier this year it had obtained distribution rights, and, lo and behold, City of Lies has finally received a domestic Blu-ray release, probably due at least in part to the fact that the pandemic meant box office returns for any theatrical exhibition were minimal. Even without a pandemic, City of Lies might have languished with ticket buyers, since there may no longer be the visceral interest in the killings of two long ago rap icons that there once was, and, perhaps even more saliently, City of Lies often verges on the preposterous, even if some of its underlying content is in fact completely relevant to today (i.e., the film overtly depicts police both harassing and killing black men, including black men who happen to be other policemen).

City of Lies was culled from a non-fiction book called LAbyrinth (get it?) by Randall Sullivan, and one of the kind of weird changes City of Lies makes, aside from its title (the film was evidently initially announced under the book's name), is that Sullivan is nowhere to be found, unless one counts the fictional character of journalist Jack Jackson (Forest Whitaker) who shows up years after the murders of Tupac and Biggie to aid now retired detective Frank Poole (Johnny Depp) in his attempts to uncover the truth. Poole was a real life policeman, and a rather famous and/or infamous one at that, depending on your point of view, and he did indeed spend decades trying to get to the bottom of the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. in particular, ultimately alleging that some members of the police were at least tangentially involved. That quickly brought him a kind of official censure and led to his early retirement, though kind of like Ahab and the Great White Whale, Poole could never quite stop obsessing about his quest for the truth.

If Poole's hypotheses are to be believed, which of course this film alleges, that perhaps unhelpfully ends up throwing in a variety of supposedly interlinked Los Angeles history lessons that make that whole "she's my sister, she's my daughter" confusion in another conspiracy laden Los Angeles set film, Chinatown, seem positively straightforward by comparison. Therefore, for those at least relatively unacquainted with everything from Rodney King to the Rampart scandal may feel like parts of City of Lies are impenetrable, especially since the film likes to ping pong between time periods and putative subject matters with a fair degree of abandon.

As my now long ago Tupac Assassination: Battle for Compton Blu-ray review got into, there is certainly no dearth of competing theories as to what went down between Tupac and Biggie, and what ultimately led to their untimely deaths. What's so kind of unexpectedly surprising, then, about City of Lies is that there's so little real tension felt, despite a whole host of dysfunctional relationships that are interwoven into its spectacularly convoluted plot. Depp and Whitaker both do fine work, even if Whitaker seems to have been assigned the "Method tic filled" performance this time around, leaving Depp to offer a rather tamped down, at times almost stiff, characterization. Biggie's real mom, Voletta Wallace, has a cameo.

City of Lies kind of weirdly ends up aiming for a kinda sorta "feel good ending" with a closing credits roll that discloses what happened to some of the real life people involved, but it would seem to be a fool's errand, given the death and destruction that occurred, not to mention the less than felicitous outcome for Poole's own career. A mention that the unsolved murders of Tupac and Biggie are simply two in a sea of similarly unsolved cases involving the deaths of black men in general may seem like an unnecessary afterthought.

City of Lies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

City of Lies is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Saban Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This was shot on good, old fashioned (Kodak) film, and finished at a 2K DI. While detail levels are generally quite pleasing throughout this presentation, they often ebb and flow due to some patently odd grading choices, which often bathe things in an almost syrupy ochre at times, or kind of sickly greens at others. The yellowish material in particular seems to give a kind of hazy overlay at times, which can at least partially mask fine detail levels, and which can also contribute to pretty milky looking blacks. Stylistically, director Brad Furman and cinematographer Monika Lenczewska evidently never met a lens flare they didn't like, so quite a few framings are filled with light anomalies. I noticed no compression anomalies and no signs of aggressive digital tweaking.

City of Lies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

City of Lies features a nicely propulsive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers significant low end energy on a variety of source cues from everyone including Snoop Dogg to of course The Notorious B.I.G. The film does exploit a few more action oriented set pieces along the way, including the gonzo road rage incident that kind of sparks Poole's understanding as to what is ostensibly going on, and the surround channels are nicely and at times rather aggressively engaged in those moments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

City of Lies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Brad Furman and Author Randall Sullivan


• Crafting the Characters in City of Lies (HD; 12:14) is a rather interesting featurette with good interviews with Furman in particular.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 9:50)

Additionally, a digital copy is included.

City of Lies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Poole was both a tragic figure and, for some at least, a hero, but his story is simply told in too muddled a fashion here to ever resonate fully on an emotional level. The underlying conspiracy and/or conspiracies detailed in this film are fascinating, if frankly a little confusing at times, and it's arguable that a more straightforward approach might have benefitted greater understanding. Depp and Whitaker are interesting, though, and the film's kind of peculiar color grading choices might appeal to stylists. Technical merits are generally solid (especially audio), for those who are considering making a purchase.