The upcoming crime drama is based on the true story of the attempt to solve the murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls. The film follows LAPD detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) who teams up with journalist “Jack” Jackson (Forest Whitaker) to try and finally discover what happened to Biggie Smalls two decades after his murder.
As far as crime dramas go, City of Lies looks solid. I was a bit hesitant on this one with Depp in the lead, but he looks like he’s giving a worthwhile performance, and I’m eager to see him and Whitaker bouncing off each other. The film also clearly has grander ambitions to dive into police brutality and systemic racial injustice, and I’m curious to see how director Brad Furman (The Infiltrator) will tackle that aspect of the story as he explore the unsolved murder of Smalls.