City of Tiny Lights (2016)

Powerful

Must See Movie...

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A contemporary hard boiled private detective neo noir thriller set in London.The voiceover is provided by Tommy Akhtar (Riz Ahmed) looking after his cricket mad dad (Roshan Seth.) He is a hard drinking, chain smoking rather dinghy private eye in London.A prostitute called Melody (Cush Jumbo) hires him to find fellow prostitute Natasha who has gone missing after going off with a new client. Tommy finds the client dead in a hotel room.As Tommy delves deeper he comes across an old friend, who is now a wealthy property developer, trying to take the drug riddled estates, upmarket. The dead client was an associate of this developer. Tommy soon finds the security services sniffing around him. The dead man was also hanging around an imam who might be radicalising the youth, he certainly has a little gang who is chasing away drug dealers.As the film goes on, Tommy recalls his past, 20 years ago when he fancied his best mate's girl Shelley (Billie Piper.) We gather his mate died but he sees Shelley again who is now a single mother and both rekindle their affections for each other.There is nothing too original about City of Tiny Lights, we can sort of guess who will turn out to be the culprit. It all feels a little bleak and jagged. The movie needed more humour and should had been more offbeat. Albert Finney got it right in Stephen Frears 'Gumshoe' back in 1971.

I feel for those who saw this in a theatre. I really do. We watched for ten minutes before returning to the start and turning on the translation. I admit I was surprised even then - the plot is rarely predictable or trite, and the pace varies with the prevailing emotions from scene to scene. The characters are relevant to current times and reasonably complex; even the gumshoe with the heart of gold (Riz Ahmed as Tommy Akhtar) has a few surprises for the viewer along the way. The language of cinema is present throughout, which is unfortunately unusual in modern films which have largely forgotten the roots of making movies. A dark but varied color palette and flashback sequences combine with the cinema verité feel of hand-held camera-work to convey a sense of time lost and passing. It's particularly effective in scenes with altercations, where the audience might see a fist or a movement of a body lurching. It's a much more effective method of showing physical violence than predictable mid shots. Repetition of short visual segments rearrange until the audience sees the events become linear and plot twists align. Corruption and loyalty are themes which move the plot through to the end.The principal characters' acting is convincing and without gimmicks. The cast is believable. Billie Piper is refreshingly mature, and the actress that plays her as a young woman was a good choice. Roshan Seth as Tommy's father is a natural charmer (unless confronted with reprehensible actions) and the supporting cast rounds out a picture of ethnic, religious and economic diversity which looks a lot like modern London.

I'm a fan of London based tales, probably biased as I grew up in south London, so first off, the American audience very rarely understand our street talk, and secondly, as for sound issues there is none and I was watching low volume too.I really enjoyed this film, yes some parts not superb but all in all its a good watch and has potential.

This movie is definitely worth the watch. Something a bit different reflecting on growing up on the London Streets being Asian. It's not to over done or a low budget movie. All I've got to say is watch it openly with a open mind and try to Huss out who is the hit man yep I'm not giving it away yet lol Enjoy