City of Tiny Lights

"I deal with the lies people tell, and truths that they don't," says Tommy, a London detective. Everyone has secrets. Tommy enters the underworld of the big city in search of a missing woman. Along the way he revisits intimate betrayals, a tragic accident and an ex- girlfriend in a love triangle. Tommy struggles with his moral compass in such matters of the past. This inner struggle is worse than the storm of trouble of the outside world – which, by the way, includes terrorists, government agents, and shady real estate agents - for without knowing his heart or who or what to rely on, how can he react? What direction does he go? Who can he trust if he can't trust himself? Martin Luther King said it best, "if you don't have anything you are willing to die for, then what do you have to live for?!"

From the director of Dredd, which I loved, this film was eight years in making. "Cinema should address such stories," said the director "it takes people to wholly different place." I think what Travis is getting at is that this Pakistani detective story gives us a glimpse not only of the London underworld but also of a very different perspective than many people are familiar with. The film delightfully incorporates lessons from the game of cricket including getting in the head of opponents (as with baseball, there is not much physical activity going on in cricket, and it is more of a mental game rather than a physical challenge for participants of this sport).

It is wonderful seeing the film in a packed theater and on the big screen. As characters enter a nightclub, the seats vibrate with the throb of the base speakers kicking in. Americans do not understand why the detective doesn't have a gun, but they are illegal to possess in the U.K. There are camera shots from drones that add interesting angles to the filming location. Funny moments include a lot of escort jokes. "I'm surprised you showed up," said an escort to a detective. "Why are you surprised?" "People pay me and I don't have to come," she says. Even though the film is in English, it would be easier for North Americans to understand if there were subtitles or a phrasebook handed out at the start of the film for the wacky U.K. vocabulary! The film began with depth, energy and power, yet this promise was squandered. There were not that many twists to the story. World premiere seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Riz Ahmed is the standout in this grimy yet stylish neo noir that is let down by some dodgy camerawork and an uninteresting story.

This movie spends a lot of time showing Tommy Aktar sucking on cigarettes and drinking double shots of bourbon. He also goes back and forth to places in London, mostly at night. The back story of relationships with a former friend who is now a young real estate and the widow of his best friend when he was a young man are somewhat interesting...but the script is not written well enough to create tension regarding real estate, a Muslim mullah and a high-priced call girl that has gone missing. Way too long.

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.

Private eyeing in present day Britain is a rough proposition. Guns are illegal, and then there's the whole immigration tension going on. Tommy Akhtar (wild eyed Riz Ahmed) is a typical, hard-drinking, tough talking, fistcuffing gumshoe with a heart of gold, trying to solve a missing Russian escort case whilst his very complicated past comes back to further cloud the perpetually rainy skies of London.

Ahmed is perfect in the lead, offering equal parts macho and empathetic soul; the gutsy dick able to take a beating, romance a good woman, and stand loyally by his loved ones.

"City of Tiny Lights" uses interesting political bents with religious, racial and drug tensions seething in the background, showing England for the explosive melting pot it truly is. Beautifully shot in wet, dark London, sparkling with Christmassy bokeh lights popping out of ominous shadows, this is one gorgeous looking film.

A little messy and cacophonic at times, this stab of celluloid is saved by a splashy, vibrant style that is pure eye candy.