Detroit

Starring: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, Jacob Latimore, Ephraim Sykes, Algee Smith, Joseph David-Jones, Malcolm David Kelley, Anthony Mackie, John Krasinski, Jennifer Ehle (uncredited)
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Police and citizens clash during the 1967 Detroit riots.

Review:

Tim: I was really looking forward to Detroit. Over the last few years, Kathryn Bigelow has made two truly great movies that I loved- The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. So, I was anticipating this based-on-true events movie about an event in American history that I didn't know much about- the Detroit race riots in 1967.

While I was eagerly anticipating the film, I immediately struggled to connect with it. I felt confused as the film opened- what were we supposed to be focusing on? Was it a macro-level view of what happened (similar to what Patriots Day did with the Boston Marathon bombing), or was it a smaller scale, intimate look at one event (similar to what Dunkirk did?). Ultimately, it's more of the latter, but the movie's set up felt completely off to me. By the time I made sense of what the movie was focusing on, we were so deep into the film that I felt my interest waning. I really believe this could have been a good movie, but Bigelow's direction hurts it (as does the script). The film really just focuses on what happens in one lodging during the riots. The path it took there in the beginning just doesn't work. We're introduced to a bunch of characters who will converge on that location, but we're not given enough time to care about them. When they all come together, the heart of the movie begins but I'd already felt too confused, too disinterested in the characters at that point. The events depicted are awful and despicable, but the set up to those events was all wrong.

The bulk of the movie involves the terror that takes place at the Algiers Motel. That's what the movie is really about. It just took me a long time to understand that (I went into the movie cold and it didn't do a good job of explaining). Bigelow does a great job (in some ways) with these scenes. They are hard to watch- you have disgusting, blatant racism on display. You have rampant police brutality and abuses of power. You have violence, torture, murder, and the threat of rape. It was like all the worst evils of humanity focused themselves on one location. And it's hard to watch. And it seems like it takes forever. Now, some of this was probably intentional- Bigelow wants you to feel trapped in the Motel, to want to look away from the violence but unable to. That's what those people felt being held there. So, in one way, it's brilliant- it helps you to sympathize with those characters and understand what a terrible experience it was. On the other hand, it makes for a fairly brutal viewing experience. I didn't want to finish the movie and it had nothing to do with being squeamish about what was depicted on screen. I've often said we need to be exposed to the brutal reality of events in movies if we hope to understand them. The problem was the depiction. It felt like Bigelow became obsessed with these moments, lingering on them, shoving them down our throats. It felt too much. There was no subtlety, there wasn't enough storytelling involved. It was just violence in your face. You might have felt what they felt, but it wasn't enlightening enough. I was horrified by the events depicted on screen and I was bored with the story and the characters. I never fully understood the character of Dismukes (had to look up his name), so I was mostly bewildered as to his actions,. As much as I wanted to like this movie (and I did, because the events here are criminally timely for audiences today), I just didn't enjoy Bigelow's execution of the story. It didn't work.

The cast was much worse than I expected, but it's often not their fault. I really enjoy John Boyega, but he wasn't utilized well here. As mentioned, his character and his actions were a bit too mystifying. I understand what Bigelow was trying to say with his character, but something gets lost in translation. Will Poulter was well cast, but it felt a little too on-the-nose. He's been playing these kinds of characters a lot lately. His performance is mostly over-the-top racist and evil. Maybe that's what the guy was really like, but it felt like his performance strayed into a caricature. You obviously hated him for his actions, but Poulter plays him too in-your-face. It wasn't nearly as effective of a performance as Poulter believed he was giving. I liked seeing Anthony Mackie here, but he was so underutilized. Same can be said for John Krasinski- great seeing him, doesn't really have anything to do. The rest of the cast is mostly asked to act terrified for too much of the film.

Detroit isn't a bad movie. It's a decent film and most importantly, it reminds viewers of the awful racism that people in this country have experienced, as recently as 1967. And it reminds people that things like this still happen every day in this country. Maybe they aren't taken to the same extremes, but black people are murdered by police for no reason, or arrested when they're clearly innocent. The problems this movie depicts are the problems people face today and that's an absolute shame. I appreciate the film for shining a light on these events, I just wish Bigelow had delivered a better movie while doing it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Zero Dark Thirty, 10 Years a Slave, Do the Right Thing