Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) directs Detroit, an uneven yet occasionally powerful account of the 1967 Algiers Motel incident, part of a race riot that put the city of Detroit under siege.
When a man fires off a pistol from his hotel window during intense riots, the police and National Guard converge on the Algiers—and a terrible night ensues. It results in three men shot to death, with others psychologically and physically tortured. As for the judicial rulings in the aftermath … they’re the type that are far too commonplace when it comes to law enforcement violence against people of color.
John Boyega plays Dismukes, a security guard who finds himself entangled in the bloody events perpetrated by racist policemen led by Krauss (a legitimately scary Will Poulter). The men and women held captive at the Algiers are played by a strong ensemble cast, including Jason Mitchell, Anthony Mackie, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Nathan Davis Jr. and Algee Smith.
The film feels a bit too fictional in spots. In an odd move, Bigelow incorporates real stock footage along with scenes meant to look like stock footage, much like Oliver Stone did in J.F.K., further confusing fact and fiction. She’s going for a documentary feel, but the script sometimes calls leads to cartoonish caricatures of its bad policemen. No doubt, some of the policemen at the hotel that night were monsters, but the portrayals of them (beyond that of Poulter) feel too cliché and, in some cases, aren’t well-acted.
There are enough strong performances to make Detroit worth your while. While some of the details seem manufactured, this is a true story that needed to be told, even if the film seems tainted by fiction at times.
Detroit is playing at theaters across the valley.