Film Review – Detroit

In 2008, Kathryn Bigelow helmed “The Hurt Locker,” a searing, restless Iraq War drama that restored her career, bringing her Oscar gold and industry respect, also kicking off a union with screenwriter Mark Boal, who also collected an Academy Award for his work on the feature. In 2012, Bigelow and Boal returned to the depths of Middle East hell with “Zero Dark Thirty,” delivering another pulse-pounding ride of heated conflicts, moral ambiguity, and military procedure, sustaining their box office success and maintaining a brand for tense, agitated storytelling. The pair turns their attention to America for “Detroit,” a dramatization of the “Algiers Motel Incident” from the turbulent summer of 1967 — a harrowing display of murder and racism that reverberates to this day. In many ways, “Detroit” is an easy lay-up for Bigelow and Boal, offering an oversimplified take on dangerous cops and scarred civilians, but it’s impossible to deny the urgency of their filmmaking, using a docudrama approach to capture moments of unrest and horror, bringing viewers into the insanity of the moment.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com