Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case – the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur – but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies.
Based upon the book ‘LAbyrinth’ by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Randall Sullivan, this film shows us an extremely wide and unsettling view of the Los Angeles Police Department and how it responded during the investigations into the death of Rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher (Biggie) Wallace. Twenty years after the deaths, Jack Jackson (Forest Whitaker), a journalist, and LAPD detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) come together after Jack makes an effort to seek out the truth of the cold case that no one seems willing or able to solve.
Jack, who seems diminutive and unassuming in nature, starts out in a nice and friendly manner, realizing he must gain the trust of Detective Poole in order to get to the heart of the matter. Detective Poole, who seems like he has lost interest after trying so long to put the pieces together, doesn’t seem overly enthused about putting more energy into an investigation that has garnered no interest from anyone except himself for a long time. While they seem to not hit it off in the beginning, they do realize they have a common goal but each has a lot of pride that prevents them from acknowledging that it still matters and they really would appreciate any type of resolution. As each question the other’s intent, they try to disguise their true reasons for wanting closure but it doesn’t seem to work too well though, because neither can seem to answer the question of why it doesn’t seem to matter to an entire department of officers who have not asked enough questions of themselves, or others, in order to regain the public’s trust in their handling of crimes of African-Americans. When the two men finally decide that they can open up with each other enough to shake the police department up once again, they are both led on a series of wild goose chases that keep them up at night wrestling with their own thoughts about how so many corrupt things are allowed to continue to happen and no one seems to have enough wherewithal to hold anyone accountable.
As the film progresses, a timeline of the murders offers lots of information that wasn’t made available to the public. At the same time, items of evidence that should have been secured as police property had no history of safe-keeping nor accurate record retention. When either of the two went back to re-interview witnesses, there was an alarming amount of vital information that was never put on official records or had been purposefully redacted. When the LAPD was furthered questioned about missing information, there seemed to be a code of honor in which none of the officers involved were willing to expose their peers for any wrongdoing as it related to either of the cases.
Director Brad Furman, also known for producing “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “The Infiltrator,” uses very intimate details of the Rappers’ murders to draw parallels that seemed too obvious to be neglected and too vital to not have been followed up on. As Jack and Russell go deeper into finding out the truth of a wide and evasive coverup, their relationship with one another changes, drawing them closer to being on the same side, yet tearing them apart from the guilt of inaction. It is noted that Officer Raphael Perez, who committed various crimes related to the case, was granted immunity, and David Mack who stole over $700,000, served jail time, however, the money was never recovered. When Detective Poole collapsed and died at the LA Sherriff’s office in 2015, he was still attempting to pursue justice for the rappers and as of today, the murders of Tupac and Biggie remain unsolved. Journalist Jack Jackson, who expended all of his energy reworking the cases, later resigned from his position after finding out that his organization too, had a major part in the corruption.
Now available on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital) and DVD
