Another enthralling and fascinating film by Kathryn Bigelow. A dramatization of the 1967 Detroit riot, the film opens with the civil unrest's inciting incident, a police raid of an unlicensed African American bar, and then depicts the growing riot from various perspectives, ranging from National Guardsmen to members of the R&B group the Dramatics. Bigelow then nimbly narrows her focus to the Algiers Motel, where a small group of African American youths and two white girls are beaten, debased, and otherwise terrorized by a few members of the Detroit police force and a Guardsman. The incident leaves three dead. Collaborating a third time with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty screenwriter Mark Boal, Bigelow once again displays an incredible aptitude for visceral, on-the-ground-and-in-the-moment suspense (the Algiers-set second act is more claustrophobic and nauseating than most horror films) coupled with well-researched verisimilitude.

A

I thought Zero Dark Thirty was better but this was so well-done, particularly the scenes at the Algiers Motel which take on an almost horror-film like aesthetic. They made my skin crawl. Kathryn Bigelow does an excellent job and displaying the escalating tension that leads to the events at hand, and while I wasn't as big of a fan of the third act courtroom drama material it is still undeniably effective. The performances are all incredibly strong. Will Poulter runs away with the movie in my opinion. Is this seriously the same kid who was in We're The Millers? What a menacing, terrifying performance. He would be worthy of a Best Supporting Actor nod, IMO. Also strong were Algee Smith, John Boyega (who really sells the emotional conflict his character faces), Jacob Latimorte and Hannah Murray (whom I've loved since "Skins" and has many great scenes here). This movie feels so incredibly timely with what is going on in the world today, and while often infuriating and hard to watch should almost be required viewing. It's powerful and important. A-

Wow, I had no idea that was Jack Reynor the entire film. He looks so different.

Really solid film. The Hurt Locker is still my favorite, but I'd put it over Zero Dark Thirty slightly because I definitely found this more engaging. The gritty, documentary style filmmaking really adds to the feel of the film and at times it seamlessly transitions from a war film to a horror film which is definitely an interesting aesthetic. It's strange because of how morbid it is, but the middle portion is easily my favorite part of this movie.

I just loved the claustrophobia, the tension and the fact that everybody was looking so sweaty and beat down. Will Poulter is also absolutely terrifying and convincing as a racist cop who believes what he is doing is right.

Detroit

An engaging look at a slither of US history that I know very little about. Good film, though. Particularly the final third interrogations and court case. The actual incident stalls on too much for my liking. Decent performances too, but in patches. Boyega is useless until interrogated, then his talent wakes up. And it is well directed, though nothing revolutionary. People have made reconstructed documentaries before and this is exactly like one of those. But it never gets boring, which is a feat, and it so blatantly straddles that line of not branding all whites as pigs and not branding all blacks as looters, which is fair but also a tad on the nose like it was a studio HR requirement. The film is also a bit low-key, and I can see how it will get lost in the shuffle come awards time. There is no big performance to carry it. No artistic direction. No bells and whistles. It just tells the story, job done. If Clint Eastwood were a woman, he'd have made Detroit.

B+

I was quite pleased when one of the black witnesses was in court being questioned by an attorney and he shouts out that he's not the one of trial and for them to go fuck themselves.

One thing I don't get is Poulter earlier killed a black man by shooting him in the back as he ran away. And he was apparently going to be tried for murder. Did that ever happen? The films ends in such a way that it makes me think that was forgotten.

Unrelated but I was just thinking about the film while doing some housework. I loved the scene where Reynor has no idea that Poulter meant for him not to kill that guy. Instead it was just a game. His reaction is sort of priceless, even if he did get over his doubts pretty fucking quickly. Reynor really is a good actor. I love him in everything I've seen him in.

Interesting, though, that at the beginning of the film the three police officers are talking in the car and they seem pretty reasonable. Reynor corrects one of them on something. Poulter says we've (white people, I assume) failed them. Then they turn into the klan.