Review of Detroit (2017) by Glenn G — 04 Aug 2017

POINT BLANK - My Review of DETROIT (4 Stars).

If I was asked to write LEAVE IT ON THE FLOOR today, a musical about the LGBT African American experience, I'm not sure I would say yes as I did back in 2011. We're now in a place in our national discussion where we question who should be telling the stories, who should drive the narratives. I've always been torn on this. On the one hand, an ever-growing list of filmmakers from every community has emerged and shined. With a subject matter so personal and so deeply felt as 13TH, for example, it's hard for me to imagine anyone else but Ava DuVernay. On the other hand, to deny an outsider's perspective, we might not have had such great Ang Lee films as BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and THE ICE STORM.

This conundrum reared its ugly head when I saw DETROIT, the new film by the Academy Award winning team of director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, two caucasian filmmakers who have taken on a harrowing incident during the Detroit riots of 1967. As far as the filmmaking and writing goes, it's great. It's no small feat to take such an expansive subject matter and make it feel so tight, intimate, and heart-wrenching. The big question and the baggage this film carries remains. Were these the right people to tell this story?

Bigelow has always excelled at action and tension, and with DETROIT, save for the oddly animated opening sequence that reminded me of an episode of FAT ALBERT, she grabs you from first frame to last. During the riots, the small black community, no longer willing to abide the institutionalized racism, the police brutality, the overt hatred, and the economic disparity, found themselves living in a war zone. Just wanting to relax and have a moment of peace, several of these true life characters gathered at the Algiers Motel. One person shoots a toy gun at cops in the far distance, which leads to a brutal, deadly shakedown in the motel. Most of the film takes place during this excruciating, horrific period of time.

Chief among the cast are Will Poulter (THE REVENANT) as the racist cop who leads the illegal investigation, John Bodega (STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS) as an empathetic security guard who witnesses the incident, and Algee Smith as the talented lead singer of the real life group, The Dramatics, who suffers at the hands of the police. Hannah Murray (GAME OF THRONES) plays an Ohio girl who socializes with her friends at the motel and also gets beaten as the police try to locate the gun that started the whole affair. Jack Reynor (so great in SING STREET) and Ben O'Toole (HACKSAW RIDGE) excel as part of Poulter's terrifying squad. Ephraim Sykes, the lead in LEAVE IT ON THE FLOOR, appears as a member of The Dramatics, and his appearance hit me so personally. I wondered how he felt about who was telling this story.

For the most part, DETROIT plays out like a home invasion thriller. It's a churning locomotive of a story, nail biting very well-crafted. With so many characters, it's amazing how much feeling builds for them. These characters, all defined by their actions, make indelible impressions. Algee Smith, in particular, has the most fascinating arc, going from naive and hopeful to despairing and lost. His journey to find his voice as an artist takes you to unexpected places. Barry Ackroyd's most handheld camerawork has a sharp documentary feel, artless and ugly....intentionally so. Early in her career, Bigelow crafted meticulous frames with such films as NEAR DARK, POINT BREAK, and STRANGE DAYS. From THE HURT LOCKER on, she has abandoned that technique for a visceral, immediate aesthetic. This isn't a film where pretty pictures would feel appropriate. It's the right tone for the genre, but it raises the question of whether or not this story should play to any genre tropes at all.