Alfred Hitchcock once declared that filmmakers "should only resort to dialogue when it is completely impossible to tell the story visually" and famously critiqued dialogue-heavy films as merely "photographs of people talking."
However one approaches director Potsy Ponciroli's **MOTOR CITY**, one thing becomes immediately clear: this is a visual story that throws out the rulebook of more traditional action films.
With nearly zero dialogue -- co-star Ben MacKenzie's character never utters a single word -- and an enviable 1970s soundtrack -- Ponciroli picks up Hitchcock's gauntlet and delivers a crowd-pleasing revenge actioner with one of the most talented casts working in Hollywood today.
Brick shithouse Alan Ritchson fills the screen as John Miller with his hulking, brooding presence, carrying nuance like a kettlebell in scene after gloriously action-packed scene from beginning to end. His love interest -- Sophia (played by Shailene Woodley) oozes thoroughly believable onscreen chemistry with Ritchson. Their happy, blue-collar life is suddenly torn apart with a conspiracy to rival Alexander Dumas's ***The Count of Monte Cristo***.
With telling flashbacks and a **SERPICO**-esque glimpse at police corruption in 1970s Detroit, what happens next will slake the thirst of any action fan, as Ponciroli's film rides hell for leather in a relentless and brutal sequence of revenge.
Co-starring Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber and Lionel Boyce, and a cameo by Detroit's own Jack White (who serves as one of the 28 executive producers) -- **MOTOR CITY** confirms what most action films dare to risk: dialogue is optional when a filmmaker understands how to tell a story visually.
**MOTOR CITY** is sure to divide critics -- and is likely doomed at the box office for the misfortune of being stuck between a rock and a hard place (released between **THE ODYSSEY** and **SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY**) -- yet one hopes it will build on a solid word-of-mouth success and excel once it moves to streaming.
In a "less is more" approach to this revenge actioner -- which is precisely what made George Miller's **MAD MAX: FURY ROAD** and both of Jalmari Helander's much-loved Finnish **SISU** films so great -- **MOTOR CITY** gives audiences a visual feast without holding their hands.
The principal cast offer standout performances -- especially in one memorable, entirely wordless seductive sequence between Woodley and Foster in a late-night coffee shop rendezvous. This is arguably Woodley's best work. Equally impressive, Ritchson cements himself as one of the most watchable actors in Hollywood today.
