City of Tiny Lights (2016)

• Year: 2016
• Released: 26 Jul 2017
• Country: United Kingdom
• Adwords: 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1966385/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_tiny_lights
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Runtime: 110 min
• Writer: Patrick Neate
• Director: Pete Travis
• Cast: Riz Ahmed, Billie Piper, James Krishna Floyd
• Keywords: london, england, based on novel or book, religious fundamentalism, political intrigue , missing person, private eye,

	5.6/10
	55/100
	59% – Critics
	39% – Audience

City of Tiny Lights Storyline

Meet Tommy Akhtar: cricket fan, devoted son and deadbeat private eye. He’s got an office above a suburban cab firm, a taste for B&H and Wild Turkey (aka ‘Benny and Turk’) and a finely tuned moral compass that he keeps well hidden behind a sharp line in cynicism. When Tommy walks in one morning to find high-class prostitute Exotic Melody seeking his help, it’s the archetypal set up for an utterly original modern noir. Melody wants Tommy to find her friend and ‘flatmate’, Natasha, last seen meeting a new client at a swanky Mayfair bar. He has little luck tracking down Natasha, but he does find the dead body of Pakistani businessman, Usman Rana, in a cheap hotel; and, before he knows it, he’s been drawn into a sinister world triangulated by MI5, smack dealers and radical Islam. His journey to uncover the truth leads him deep into the murky politics of modern London and deeper still into his own history as a member of the ‘Churchill Massive’, a gang of friends growing up together in the suburbs at the height of late ’90s New Labour optimism. Haafiz ‘Lovely’ Ansari was the heart of the gang and Tommy’s best friend. Lovely had it all: looks, char, cool parents and a nice yard – everything Tommy lacked. In fact, you know what? Lovely’s now a successful entrepreneur and community figurehead – he’s still got it all. But, Lovely was also Rana’s business partner and when Shelley Stevens, the Churchill Massive’s leading lady, returns to the old neighbourhood after a twenty-year absence, Tommy finds past and present ever more entangled. With the web of intrigue drawing tighter and friendships tested to the limits, Tommy finds himself increasingly confronted by the tragic accident that scarred their youth (and which he’s spent his entire adult life drinking to forget). Should he forgive himself and, with Shelley’s help, mend his broken heart, or must he succumb to the familiar consequences of old weaknesses (his own and other people’s)? Can he realize that the question is less ‘who’ killed Rana than ‘why’ and, ultimately, will he distinguish the truth about the city from all those tiny lights?—Patrick Neate

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City of Tiny Lights Movie Reviews

Gumshoe

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.

London dick.

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.

London Noir

I really enjoyed this British take on the noir genre. It had a sensitive and moving performance by Riz Ahmed as a troubled PI. The plot, like all good noir, is satisfyingly layered. In addition to being an excellent whodunit, it addresses Islamophobia, the treatment of immigrants and the growing feeling that there are hidden agendas that affect our everyday lives. Not high budget or flashy but very well done. Highly recommended.