Motor City
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A fascinating experiment that succeeds beyond my wildest expectations, MOTOR CITY is, on its surface, a high octane, dialogue-free Grindhouse action flick set in a very tangible 1977.
It feels like a gritty 70's Charles Bronson film, blended with the pure style of Nicholas Winding Refn's hypnotic 2011 film, "Drive", but it has a pulse that's all its own.
Alan Ritchson (Reacher) stars as Vietnam Vet John Miller, working a blue collar factory job in a Detroit that feels straight out of "Robocop" in its grim, poor desolation.
Ritchson's jaw dropping muscular bulk hides a wounded vet who's trying to find his way. He smiles for the first time when he leaves his probation officer's office and finds he's been released from probation for a drug charge.
He's barely home to his girlfriend Sophia (a perfectly case Shailene Woodley) a waitress at a local diner, when he takes a knee to propose. Almost in the moment, police raid their home and Miller is dragged away on a false drug charge.
The drugs were planted by dirty cop named Savick (a great Pablo Schreiber) who's in the pocket of local gangster Reynolds (Ben Foster). Reynolds just happens to be Sophia's ex-boyfriend. Foster (Hell or High Water) is fantastic as Reynolds, a 70's clad drug dealer who looks like Tony Montana but takes madness and jealousy to a whole different level.
He seems to own Detroit in all its sprawling squalor, living in a mansion in the hills while the city scrapes by day to day on junk strewn streets.
Lt. Savick is a brutal enforcer who seems to control the entire police force down a crooked path. Schreiber (Den of Thieves, First Man) owns the screen any time he's on it and is the rare actor that can go toe-to-toe with Ritchson in a fight and be believable. Their finale hand to hand square off in an elevator is gold, a gory, brutal, incredibly well shot fight to the death.
But what a ride to that finale.
Miller sits in jail, taunted by photos he's received that the gangster has reunited with Sophia and they've enjoyed a globe hopping honeymoon.
Two of his fellow vets from his platoon, Youngblood (Lionel Boyce) and Singh (Amar Chadha-Patel) begin to plot a prison breakout for their wrongly imprisoned friend, igniting a hell of an escape scene that ignites the final half hour of the film.
Boyce and Chadha-Patel are both fantastic, creating characters you love without a word of dialogue spoken. If I needed to escape captivity and go on a blood soaked trail of revenge against the folks that wronged me, these ARE the two dudes I'd want at my side.
There is one good cop on the police force, Detective Kent, played by Ben McKenzie (Gotham). Will that be enough?
There are about six total spoken lines of dialogue in the entire film, but the creators don't hold back on the sound. Every twisted metal crash, bone crunching punch and squealing tire comes through loud and clear.
The earliest silent films had an in-theater organist or piano player punching up the scenes. Here, we have a fantastic jukebox of tunes layering mood and atmosphere over the action.
"Lovely Day" by Bill Withers, "Putting Out Fire" (The Theme from Cat People) by David Bowie, "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer and "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart have never sounded better, killer choices all.
The balance of the film features Steve Jablonsky's best score. He's created music for some massive action blockbusters (Transformers, Skyscraper), but this is something wholly different, pulling you into this violent, unforgiving tale. It's moody, atmospheric and flawless.
Chad St. John's screenplay is a gritty original, packed with rich characters that these actors embody to the hilt. The fact that he creates the momentum of the story without dialogue far exceeds it being a gimmick, he forces you to watch faces, backgrounds and visual cues.
Director Potsy Ponciroli is a newcomer to me, but after this film, I am going to hurry to see his 2021 Western, "Old Henry". You often hear voices bitching that we never see anything different at the cineplex. Well here it is folks and its fantastic.
His style is unique, blending gritty 70's style shots with slow motion action that pops and close quarter violence that pulls you into the thrills.
MOTOR CITY feels different from anything else that I'm going to see on a big screen this year. That alone gets it points, but the sheer balls of its storytelling, visual experience and force earn it an A+. I'm still thinking about it four days later.
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