Motor City

Directed by Potsy Ponciroli, Motor City follows Alan Ritchson’s John Miller as he (eventually) embarks on a campaign of revenge after a ruthless drug dealer (Ben Foster’s Reynolds) gets him sent to prison. Filmmaker Ponciroli, armed with Chad St. John’s screenplay, delivers an audacious (yet erratic) thriller that unfolds with virtually no spoken dialogue, and it’s clear, ultimately, that this gimmick generally works better than one might’ve anticipated – with Ponciroli’s intensely, irresistibly cinematic approach heightening the often astonishingly pulpy atmosphere. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that Ponciroli has elicited striking work from his various performers, with Ritchson’s commanding turn often eclipsed by Foster’s larger-than-life and enjoyably smarmy turn.) And while the movie is certainly quite watchable from start to finish, Motor City, which runs an absurd 103 minutes (ie this should’ve topped out at an hour and a half with credits), admittedly does hit a fairly palpable lull in the buildup to its action-packed (and thoroughly satisfying) climactic stretch – which confirms the picture’s place as a bold experiment that is, more often than not, quite impressive.

*** out of ****