Motor City’s release date is between The Odyssey and Spiderman: Brand New Day. Suffice to say, I didn’t think the studio, or I, had high expectations for it. I thought it was gonna be a kinda fun forgettable thriller that wouldn’t stay with me in any shape or form. But thanks to a great idea from director Potsy Ponciroli, has higher highs than I thought it would have any right to get to. Never count out 1970s Detroit as a movie location.
After a crazy intro, we meet John Miller (Alan Ritchson), a just off probation steel worker, about to propose to his girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley). But cruel fate intervenes in the form of dirty cops: “beat cop” Savick (Pablo Schreiber) and “detective” Reynolds (Ben Foster) steal John’s car, plant cocaine they’re making on him to make it look like they did their jobs, and now free Sophia up for Reynolds, who’s infatuated with her. Miller gets a 25+ year prison sentence, but knows Sophia is in general trouble with Reynolds. So, he plots his escape with the help of his friends Youngblood (Lionel Boyce) and Singh (Amar Chadha-Patel).
I had to infer most of these details from Motor City. That’s because the movie’s gimmick is that there’s no dialogue until the last moments of the film. Tough task for Potsy Ponciroli, but he acquits himself remarkably well to it. The story’s straightforward enough: down on his luck good guy, bad cops, woman caught in between. The key Ponciroli knows is you have to choose a great location, and cast well. 1970s Detroit should immediately conjure feelings into the audience. This is a hard working, hard scrabble, unsafe place. It’s got love yes, but it’s also dirty and sinister, filled with institutional corruption that fits the decaying town around it. The 70s also means incredible outfits and facial hair. John Miller’s get up immediately tells us where and when we are in time, and the way Reynolds and Savick are dressed/coiffed you know immediately their motivations and potential for violence. The cars are classic, cool, and loud. And the buildings are very big, very old, and very worn, surrounded by trash and crime immersing us further into Potsy’s tale. With the audience locked in, Ponciroli tells his tale wordlessly. Sometimes he’s backed into a corner and has to mini cheat or give us a scene that should have dialogue but doesn’t in an inartful way. But when it’s cookin, like the prison break, or a car chase? No words are necessary: the songs of the era turn those scenes into electric filmmaking of the highest order.
As for the cast, everyone really brings their all to Motor City to will this movie to success. On the good side is Alan Ritchson. He uses that imposing, chiseled face to make John Miller a nice man pushed into vengeance and violence, ready to throw down even though he just wants to be with his love. Pablo Schreiber and Ben Foster are wonderful counters to the big Reacher adjacent hero. Schreiber brings the muscle and menace: the big action sequence with Ritchson Pablo holds his own in that visceral, gross bloodfest. And on the other side, Foster shows us what a coked out mini power broker high on his own supply feels like to be around; mostly horrifying yes, but like abusive relationship partners, there’s also an affection for Sophia that Foster conveys to the story, making Reynolds more complex thanks to his performance. I hadn’t seen Shailene Woodley in a long time, but for an old time thankless “the girl” part, she acquits herself well enough and makes interesting to choices to make Sophia at least more interesting than the role suggests.
I’d like to see other action directors try something like Motor City. My biggest complaint usually for action movies is the dialogue his hilariously bad. So why not try to just get rid of it entirely? Pick a cool era, cool city, and some game actors, and you can have a fun thrill ride like this one was. I do think Amazon Prime missed out partnering on Motor City though: John Miller is basically Reacher.