City of Lies
About the Film
Detective Russell Poole spent years of his LAPD career — and ultimately sacrificed it — chasing the truth behind the unsolved 1997 murder of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. Two decades later, dogged journalist Jack Jackson seeks him out, hoping to reopen the case for a magazine story.
As the retired, embittered Poole walks Jackson through his files and theories, the film moves between the present-day investigation and flashbacks to 1997, exposing a web of corrupt officers, Death Row Records and an institutional cover-up that reached deep inside the department. Based on Randall Sullivan’s book LAbyrinth, it is a sombre procedural about one man’s obsession with justice in a case the system would rather forget.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Russell Poole, the real-life LAPD detective who became convinced that police corruption lay behind the murder of Biggie Smalls. Depp plays him grey, weary and haunted — a fundamentally decent cop worn down by the case that cost him his career — in a restrained, understated performance far from his flamboyant signature roles.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Det. Russell PooleJohnny Depp
Jack JacksonForest Whitaker
Fred MillerRockmond Dunbar
Rafael PerezNeil Brown Jr.
Frank LygaShea Whigham
JerryToby Huss
Crew
DirectorBrad Furman
ScreenplayChristian Contreras
Based on the book LAbyrinth byRandall Sullivan
MusicChris Hajian
CinematographyMonika Lenczewska
ProducersMiriam Segal, Brad Furman
StudioSaban Films
Filming Locations
- Los Angeles, California
More about this film
Trivia
- It was originally titled LAbyrinth, after the book on which it is based.
- The film was shelved for years amid legal disputes before finally being released in 2021.
- Depp reunited here with Forest Whitaker, his co-star, in a two-hander built around their scenes together.
