Today, I am going to focus on some positive news for a change in the Depp/Heard soap opera, which normally means “bad” news for Amber Heard—including Heard’s official appeal brief that is not impressing anyone save her fanatical stans; Adam Waldman was reinstated on Twitter, and he didn't waste time in posting new evidence refuting Heard's abuse claims; and it is reported that Michele Dauber was "persuaded" to delete her own Twitter account. It may have something to do with a lawsuit against Stanford in regard to a recent suicide by a female student, and there are those who suspect that Dauber's constant twitter bile contributed to an atmosphere in which the suicide could take place.
I haven’t looked at a film here in a while, so I will take a look at one that the studios and other powers tried to “cancel,” City of Lies, which was originally shot in 2018, but is available on Blu-ray/DVD. It was reported two weeks ago that it is one of Netflix’s most watched on its streaming service. That is good news for Johnny Depp's career, which has been influenced by a rather eclectic taste in film projects, which would explain his many collaborations with Tim Burton. Only occasionally has he made “mainstream” films, like Donnie Brasco, co-starring Al Pacino. The POTC film series fit right in with the fantasy world of big-budget sci-fi films, so it is easy to overlook the fact that Depp has made films as divergent as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and City of Lies.
The City of Lies production received attention due to the alleged confrontation between Depp and a crew member—which was recently settled out of court for a token sum, mainly to avoid the cost of a trial and the fact the plaintiff’s claims were contradicted by witnesses—and the suspicion that due to the ongoing bad publicity by Heard’s claims would hurt a theatrical release, since it occurred at the time of her op-ed. But there have been other suggestions put forward that make much more sense, which become clear when one views the film. The LAPD comes off as a practically criminal organization despite the efforts of its police chief to root out the bad apples, and if the film had been seen by a wide audience it likely would have reignited questions about not just police involvement in criminal culture, but race politics and the acceptance of crime in some communities as well.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, 50 percent of critics gave the film a positive review, and 50 percent a negative review. Where you fall probably depends on either your “politics” or your willingness to be patient. One negative review claimed that you would get a better “understanding” of the subject of the film—the failed search for the killers of rapper Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G—in 1997 in Los Angeles by watching a documentary.
That is possible, but what you get from this film unlike from a documentary is a “feel” for the violence and criminality on the street level, which I am sure disturbed some critics in a media environment (including film and television) that provides a not entirely accurate depiction of the world we live in, and generally avoids “offending”—or reinforcing—the sensitivities of certain demographics instead of portraying reality. 90 percent of murder victims are not white women as the various media would have you believe, but nearly half of them are black, as are the perpetrators.
City of Lies takes you into that world of violence in a way which a documentary on the case would seek to avoid doing. As mentioned this film is for the patient viewer since it jumps from the past and present to tell its story, but given that everyone seems to be attempting to confuse matters in order to conceal the truth seems to be the point of it all. The film utilizes flash backs to a detective’s past efforts to solve the case, and back to the present as the detective and a journalist seek to revive a case that is apparently of little interest to law enforcement, prosecutors and those who the victim collaborated with—and for a reason.
The film opens up with a radio report of chaos during The Notorious B.I.G.’s funeral in New York (from here he will referred to as Wallace, as the principle characters insisted he be called). Back to Los Angeles, where we see a man in a truck who looks like a redneck in an apparent road rage incident with a black driver listening to rap music.
The black driver plays the “what are you looking at” game, and the white driver tries to ignore him, but the black driver tries to force him off the road for a throw-down, which the white driver avoids:
Eventually the black driver pulls alongside the white driver again, and a driver behind him sees him with outstretched arm...
...and we hear shots fired. The black driver’s vehicle careens into a gas station; what appears to be county sheriff's deputies arrive almost immediately, calling for the white driver to throw down his gun and surrender. He pulls out a badge indicating that he is an undercover cop:
...met by his superior, Lt. O'Shea, who would be a nemesis in learning the truth. In a voiceover, Poole notes that the Wallace case nine days earlier and this case were connected, and when he discovered that he lost "everything that mattered."
We then see scenes from the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson case, where white police are accused of abuse against black suspects, and the anger that resulted:
Then rapper Tupac Shakur was shot during a time when there was allegedly a "war" between "east" and "west" coast rappers:
Six months later Wallace was killed in what many believed was a "revenge" killing. We see Poole, who was at the time one of the detectives on the case, stating to reporters that his family deserves to have answers:
Back to the present, we see a man knocking on Poole's door; when he doesn't answer, the man walks in...
...he is a reporter, Jack Jackson (Forest Whitaker). He sees a wall entirely covered with notes and photos in regard to the Wallace case, this man is obviously obsessed with the case:
Jackson is confronted by Poole, who is unwilling to discuss the case with him because he assumes he is just an opportunist not interested in the truth:
Going back to his newsroom, Jackson has a crisis of conscience, deciding that maybe he wanted to find out the real truth 18 years after the murder. But at a bar he is told by the city attorney Stone to give up on the case, and not listen to Poole. Jackson sees him sitting with police officials; what is really going on here?
Jackson returns to Poole's apartment, which Poole says he expected:
Poole tells him everything on this wall is a dot, and his job was to connect those dots:
Recalling the case, Poole notes that a member of the Nation of Islam was present at the scene of Wallace's killing, and seemed to act suspiciously:
A fan asks for a autograph from Wallace, and he will later provide crucial information:
A car pulls up alongside Wallace's vehicle on the passenger side, and multiple shots are fired. He is hit four times and dies soon afterward:
Back to the previous apparent road rage incident turned into a racial one despite the fact a gun was found on the floor of the black driver's vehicle, and that witnesses corroborated the white officer's version of events. The officer, Frank Lyga, is surprised to be informed that the black man he shot was also a police officer named Gaines:
O'Shea suggests to Poole that this has to be wrapped up neatly with no loose ends. Lyga insists to Poole that Gaines was not LAPD, but a "straight-up gang banger." As he walks away, Poole is told that Gaines' vehicle was registered to a rap music company, Death Row Records:
Poole tells Jackson that although it was a legitimate business, Surge Knight ran it like a gangster, sending out his thugs to beat on anyone who he thought needed it:
Poole also relates how he sat outside Death Row's office when he observed a woman and her children arrive. She is accusing someone there of killing her husband; she stops when she is threatened by a man in dreadlocks...
Poole comforts the woman, who tells him that Gaines was her husband, and that he worked for the company as "security," and they had him killed:
Poole calls O'Shea to tell him what he has discovered, but is told that he is nuts and needs to leave it alone:
Poole then discovers a note from someone to meet him. It is the man in the dreadlocks, who identifies himself as an undercover FBI agent. He relates that he has discovered that elements of the LAPD is employed by Death Row and generally serves as its "hit" squad and engages in other illegal activities. He confirms that Gaines was involved in Wallace's murder:
At Lyga's inquest hearing, Poole is unwilling to tie the case in a neat knot, and angers O'Shea by stating that he is isn't prepared to make a definitive statement, that there are leads that needed to be looked at:
Poole relates that he was eventually assigned to the Wallace case, where he joins the team with Det. Miller, who also seems eager to discover the truth:
One piece of evidence was that Wallace was killed by rare 9mm bullets. One potential witness is offered parole for information, who identifies the Nation of Islam character:
Jackson believes he can work with this information, but Poole warns him that this suspect is untouchable, since there is no direct evidence that he was involved in the killing. Then give me a name, he says; Poole gives him one, but back at the news room, he is told that the name was the given one for rapper MC Hammer:
Jackson admits to Poole that he "deserved" that. Poole relates talking to a Las Vegas detective who spoke to Knight, who was evasive. He said that Vegas wasn't interested in the pursuing the case of Tupac's killing or its relation to Wallace's. He also criticized the LAPD, noting that eyewitness sworn statements contradicted each other, and taking them to court would be futile...
...which angers Miller, who believes that good cops who brought solid cases only lost their pensions for doing do so. But Miller is surprised to learn from Poole that the FBI have infiltrated Knight's organization and LAPD officers are working for him. Miller insists that Poole show him the evidence, and Poole walks him through the shooting:
How would a police officer at the scene communicate with another to set up the killing without leaving evidence? By using a walkie-talkies:
Poole tells Jackson that Miller bought this story for just one night, before he realize that O'Shea and others in power wouldn't allow this to see the light of day. Next we see a robbery in progress:
The teller is convinced to tell the truth, that her boyfriend--an LAPD officer--had her help set up the robbery:
The FBI arrives at the officer's pool party where we see kids playing with water guns..
...and to arrest him:
Investigating the officer's home, Poole finds evidence the officer was a gangster, and the type of bullets found at Wallace's murder scene:
The officer is visited by the LAPD police chief himself, who demands that he reveal where the money is. The officer laughs at him when told he may face 15 years in prison, like any gangster who thinks 15 years in prison is chicken feed for all the crimes he's committed, including murder:
Poole reveals that Miller flew to New York to interview Wallace's witnesses and colleagues, but they did not want to pursue the case themselves, which pretty much ended any further serious investigation into the case.
Jackson asks a colleague to convince the DA to provide the case files of the Wallace killing, and much of the evidence is redacted heavily:
Poole won't let go of the case. He interviews the fan, who identifies Gaines as man he saw at the murder scene using a walkie-talkie:
Jackson, thinking that he can convince his police contacts to look into the evidence, his told that Poole is just a crackpot and not to listen to him:
After he leaves the bar, he confronts Poole with what he has been told about him...
...but afterwards is arrested by police without any apparent justification:
Jackson realizes that the police are corrupt, and that his arrest was a threat to him to stop his investigation. He finds Miller, who confirms that Poole was one of the best and most ethical cops he ever met, and that there was an effort to conceal the truth:
Jackson returns to Poole, who reveals that many were trying to create a racial wedge in the LAPD. He was taken off the Wallace case by O'Shea, and told to take a case which was clearly meant to frame Lyga for taking drugs out of the evidence room. Poole discovered that taking items from the evidence room was extremely lax and anyone--even Donald Duck--could:
Angered, Depp deliberately encounters the police chief and insists that Wallace's family deserved to know the truth, but is scolded by O'Shea. Poole seeks out the district attorney to file a complaint against the LAPD, and receives this response from his colleagues:
One night Poole encounters an officer shooting a drug dealer in a buy the officer set-up and was attempting to run off with the drugs without paying. Poole calls in the truth, and detains the officer until backup arrives:
The chief confronts the officer in prison and demands that if there are dirty cops in his department, he wants him to be a man and be a witness to that:
But the former office hesitates to say in court that his cohorts were working for Death Row Records as expected, instead declaring some made-up organization:
As a last resort, Poole agrees to testify in the charges against Lyga, to put into the public record that Gaines was suspected of working for Death Row and was present at Wallace's killing. But someone got to Lyga's attorney and a "deal" was made:
After visiting Wallace's mother, Poole makes one final effort in the present to move the case, taking it to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, but is told his warrants are too old and they can do nothing with them:
Poole suddenly falls ill with a heart attack:
Jackson rushes to the hospital where he encounters Poole's former wife and estranged son, who now regret that they ignored him and his quest for the truth:
Remembering the last time he saw Poole, walking away with regret from his failed quest...
...he writes a story in praise of him:
And tells the city attorney where to get off when he offers congratulations on the article:
City of Lies leaves us as it should: we suspect the truth, but when society wishes it conceal it to keep the guilty either unaccountable, or does not wish societal dysfunction or criminality too closely revealed in order to maintain a narrative of victimization, then the lone people seeking the truth must be crushed. We know the truth, but others decide it is better for us not to know it.
Perhaps this is a message than many people (including some film critics) do not wish to be confronted with, and there is clear reasons why the LAPD and the city of Los Angeles did not want to see this film widely distributed and discussed. For that reason alone it is an important film that needed to be made.
No comments:
Post a Comment