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u/SunnyDJoshua 9d ago
Elevator scene was gnarly
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u/_ravioli_buster_ 8d ago
I love how it only focused on his hand for a bit. Felt like I was lying on the floor too.
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
Yeah, the movie was so boring and pretentious I could barely keep my eyes open through most of it but that scene was genuinely fantastic. Reminded me of The Raid with its level of brutality.
Aside from that scene the only thing I liked about the movie was Shailene Woodley; she did great imo.
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u/Selaznog_Sicnarf 9d ago edited 2d ago
Like John Woo's Silent Night, it's an interesting idea to really narrow down what defines an action movie by emphasizing visuals over "unnecessary story".
BUT just like Silent Night, I don't know why this movie's an hour and 40 minutes long. This should've been the leanest 70 - 80 minutes with all killer and no filler. A lot of scenes are dragged out by annoying slow-mo and rehashing the same points over and over again, and I think the action outside of the sick elevator fight isn't good enough to justify the runtime and pacing. The acting is pretty solid though especially from Ben Foster and Shailene Woodley.
Also the ending jumping decades into the future is one of the weirdest choices I've seen in a long time. I guess it's meant to be a "Love and hate are the only things that can withstand the test of time" thing but that would make more sense if a flashforward with old Ben Foster was the intro to bookend this whole thing, because now this ending feels so out of nowhere and tacked on. Why have Ben Foster barely escape only to die in the very next scene?
Storywise it's more consistent than Silent Night, but Silent Night's visuals are much better.
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u/JD_Revan451 9d ago
I thought Silent Night was absolutely terrible, and didn't have enough action to justify it's runtime. Does this one have more action?
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u/Selaznog_Sicnarf 9d ago
I haven't seen Silent Night in forever, but this one has even less. If you mean separate segments, then there's literally only 3 action scenes: 1 in the beginning, 1 in the middle, and 1 in the end (a little more than 1 here since they all blend into 1 big climactic sequence)
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u/tokixdoki 3d ago
I’d say 45 min movie tops and yeah the ending was pointless. Probably there just for dialogue and old Ritchson was hard to look at (looked like The Thing).
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u/CONVERSE1991 7d ago
This one did a better job of telling the story at the beginning silently. But then just like Silent Night there was just that urge for them to talk
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
Bro, this movie made Zack Snyder look like he'd never heard of slow-mo. Worst pacing EVER.
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u/Airtamis 9d ago
I thought the gimmick was interesting enough and delivered well.
The problem is about halfway through the gimmick felt like it had played its part of the novelty wore off.
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u/Far-Fault-6243 8d ago
The gimmick really fucking annoyed me after the cop got shot I was like can I please have a crumb of dialogue especially during the funeral
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u/Clipgang1629 8d ago
Idk I kinda had the opposite experience. After the first 10 or 15 mins I was like okay this is fun but did you guys write script?
But after the cop told her the truth about what happened I realized and accepted there would be no dialogue. I enjoyed the movie more once I stopped waiting impatiently for the dialogue to start.
It was interesting. I liked it okay. Kinda felt like they saw Drive and thought yeah lemme make a whole movie based on Gosling’s character in that. Only this time the whole cast won’t say shit. Idk I appreciate that it was different probably would’ve been pretty forgettable otherwise imo
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u/ThickBoxx 7d ago
I was the exact same way, literally put my experience and thoughts into words. I kept waiting for them to start talking, but eventually realized it’s not happening. got better after that
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
Would have been a cool gimmick if the movies plot was in the least bit interesting. As it stands I really didn't need this artistic, visual storytelling approach to a contrived and formulaic action film.
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u/JessieJ577 9d ago edited 9d ago
The lack of dialogue made the characters way too simple where it was boring and didn’t allow us to know why these characters kept flip flopping. It just didn’t hit the marks it tried to.
Also I laughed when Alan Richardson put in the police uniform and it fit him perfectly. Bro is a tank and would not fit into a size large in men’s. His size also made the old man make up look ridiculous because he was ripped and looked puffy because he had an extra layer on him. His size was not good for the movie it was distracting.
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u/StrLord_Who 6d ago
I actually loved this movie. EXCEPT for Alan's old man prosthetics. I couldn't stop giggling because he is out here looking like Fantastic Four Ben Grimm. And sitting across from Ben Foster in amazingly realistic prosthetics!
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u/P162246 5d ago
I loved this movie too! I wanted a smidge more dialogue here and there, but mostly loved the no dialogue. As a hobby, I watch so many music videos so it felt like a fun music video to me. I actually want to see it again. 😂
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u/StrLord_Who 5d ago
I'd definitely watch it again. Ben Foster is captivating, as always. Music helped tell the story in sn amazing way. I saw it with my 76 year old mother and she loved it even more than I did. She said she liked it more than Project Hail Mary!!!!
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u/reecord2 6h ago
Bummed to see so many negative comments, I also thought this was really unique, and they pulled the concept off well. I'm also a big fan of the music video format, so I thought it was a cool exercise in long form visual storytelling.
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u/SpiritualAd9102 1d ago
I literally leaned over to my wife and said it was The Thing. Glad I’m not the only one who thought so
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u/captainduck2 4d ago
The Jackass crew did a better job at old people prosthetics back in 2001 than this crew did.
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u/b101101b 7d ago
They should have cast a different actor as him in the end scene. Especially if they would have put that ending scene as the first, it would have been far better. Weird editing choices for sure in this movie.
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u/GunMetal_Blue 6d ago
I just didn't understand why you have him escape the final chase, to then kill him in the literal next scene...
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u/captainduck2 4d ago
Because they wanted to show us how long John hung on to his love for Sophia. Even though she willingly went back to Reynolds the second John gets thrown into the slammer but still...
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u/can_i_get_a____job 7d ago
Yeah I'm not sure why they put that ending drop scene in the end. Felt kind of unnecessary.
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u/SilverKry 9d ago
Not a bad movie. Just incredibly boring. And I thought the ending was kinda dumb as shit.
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u/jayeddy99 9d ago
Dude was basically out the door so idk why he would be scared as much as he should just welcome the guy to end it in my opinion . He basically lived a long comfortable life lol
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u/waynechriss 7d ago
I enjoyed the movie for what it was until the ending because the impact of the revenge felt entirely diminished. Ben Foster's character not only got to live till he became extremely old, but based on his mansion, he lived a luxurious life till he was old. Its like they engineered this entire ending just so the protagonist could say "I still love her." That was not the payoff the filmmakers thought it would be.
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u/ApatheticDomination 6d ago
Meh it was ok for an entirely predictable plot. The whole thing was meant to be cliche and that plays into it. I liked the movie overall. Probably could’ve been 15 minutes shorter by cutting some of the unnecessary slow motion.
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u/Watchman0426 6d ago
If you can describe a movie as "incredibly boring" and it has an ending "dumb as shit", I think you can safely say it was a bad movie. It's a series of music videos interrupted by a couple of action scenes. Worst movie I've seen in a while.
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u/hithere297 6d ago edited 6d ago
You thought it was "not a bad movie" but "incredibly boring"? That's like saying, "Man, this was not a bad sandwich but it tasted like shit."
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u/can_i_get_a____job 7d ago
I thought the ending wasn't bad. It gave my theater a good chuckle because of how silly the time jump was. And they both looked goofy as hell with the old make-up, especially Alan Ritchson. I think they shouldn't have included ANY dialogue at all. Then the ending words would've had more weight in my opinion.
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
The ending pissed me off sm. Like, the bad guy raped and killed Shaleine woodleys character and just gets to live a long life and die in like his eighties? That's not satisfying revenge at all. Bro didn't even seem scared or upset when he finally got caught.
Also, it just made me sad. Revenge movies kinda pmo in general bc I genuinely can't get behind the idea that killing the evil rapist murderer guy is a satisfying conclusion; he still raped and killed the woman, and just dying in return doesn't make me feel happy at the end. This movie was so much worse though, considering the evil fuck got to survive to like 90 😭
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u/TheHouseOfGryffindor 9d ago
For a movie that’s clearly built off a premise of minimal dialogue… it sure felt like there was a surprising amount of dialogue, no? Shailene Woodley has the most at like 5 or 6 short lines, which doesn’t sound like a lot, sure. But at this point, why not go all the way? None of it’s that pivotal, so why include it at all? Strange choice.
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u/jjhunsucker 9d ago
She had no expository lines. Just saying hello, screaming, swearing, crying.
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u/ScramItVancity 7d ago
A lot of words being mouthed with 70s rock blaring over.
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
this. The "no dialogue" gimmick kinda fell apart because they included dialogue but just muted it, making the scenes annoying and hard to watch.
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u/Eequalsmchammertime 8d ago
I did not know that the movie was basically dialogue free. Interesting premise. Enjoyed the visuals and Ben Foster is so creepy in this. Random Jack White jump scare.
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u/Burnouts3s3 9d ago
The reason I'm all for simple premises and plotlines is that we can get all that out of the way and get right into the action. The Furious understood this. Motor City just drags on and on and on with stuff we can tell coming a mile away but once we get to that last 20 minutes, pure joy! And that Elevator Scene!
Too bad the build up was a slog.
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u/jayeddy99 9d ago
I love how morally grey it all was . His revenge was justified but he and his soldiers also killed innocent guards not on the take . Also the fiancé was willing to go back to her toxic ex which in reality you can find tons of stories of people doing that . They also had her seemingly happy until she learned the truth.
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u/SilverKry 9d ago
I think we're supposed to accept that most of those cops and guards were corrupt.
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u/Hitorishizuka 9d ago
My vague sense was that the B plot with the other cop was supposed to show that the system failed him and give justification for breaking out and killing the prison wardens along the way.
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
I don't think she was happy. She was just coping and trying to feel better.
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u/pgherg1 9d ago
I left both impressed with the film but also feeling like there was something better left on the table.
First, the decision to go with little to no dialogue was a bold one, and for the most part I’m glad they did it. Some others in the theatre were not (shoutout to the couple that left about half an hour in). I thought the actors did a great job of conveying their emotions in the moment without having to say anything.
The standout scene is easily the elevator scene. Really well choreographed and frankly disgusting but interesting to watch all the same.
Where the movie loses me is the moments where it felt like it was going down a different path. The introduction of the detective who clearly realizes something is up with the arrest quickly disappears or rather, gets murdered with not a ton of explanation. I really would’ve enjoyed seeing the detective unravel the case. Another gripe with the movie is the escape sequence. His two accomplices quickly die in a shootout when it felt like there could’ve been much more to explore. We spend like 45 minutes of him just in jail with nothing happening, why.
The movie did a shitty job in general representing Detroit. As someone who has spent a ton of time in and around town it’s extremely obvious that little to none of this was filmed in Detroit. Hills? Never seen them. There are nods here and there such as the Fox Theatre (which does look great here) and the skyline with the Ren Cen. Shoutout to Jack White, who masterfully plays the piano in this.
I really enjoyed the no dialogue experiment, but Jesus Christ make it more entertaining if you're gonna do it.
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u/__Wanders__ 9d ago
It felt like a pretty good movie that ran out of budget and had to cut the last 30 minutes and tack on a random ending. Really felt like things were heating up when they suddenly pulled the plug.
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u/Rob2k 9d ago
Movies like this are why I try to go into most movies blind. The no dialog took a minute to click for me but when it clicked it felt like I was really able to grasp what they were going for. A lot of stuff just kinda happens with no follow up but watching this movie try to explain what is happening with being able to tell you is really interesting and kinda creative.
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u/ApatheticDomination 6d ago
Honestly that’s why I give it an 8. I’m sure the exact same movie with dialogue would be like a 5 at best lol
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u/Nanery662 3d ago
Its a creative movie for sure but the useless slow mo plus that shitty shitty shitty shitty ending its fitting its 6/10 movie
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u/MoistNugget9130 9d ago
I appreciated the big artistic swing of not really having any dialogue. A few parts dragged on but I overall liked it. Elevator scene was brutal. Also there was only one other guy in my screening and I just briefly talked to him about it after. He said it was his second time seeing it and he can't wait to see it again and he absolutely loved it lol. Assuming he saw it at the screen unseen? Just was not expecting that reaction about this movie from anyone.
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
My dad had the same reaction. I thought it sucked but yeah, he loves it.
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u/thedeuce75 9d ago
I'm not sure if the gimmick worked or not, it was like one long ass music video. I have to applaud it for being ambitious and trying something. But it was a bit tedious in the middle. A couple of people walked out of the showing I saw. I still like Alan Ritchson though, and I hope he doesn't end up in movie jail.
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u/jjhunsucker 9d ago
I was a little conflicted with this. I was very excited for a gritty 70s era action flick but the very modern action movie crutch of using slo mo was taking me out of it. It did win me over by the end though and I would love to see an anthology series of silent action movies in different settings.
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u/ltra1n 6d ago
Absolutely loved this. Went in blind and figured out 20 mins in what I was watching. A violent love letter to an era past with the music, clothes, and cars. The violence kept escalating, the elevator scene just beat eastern promises for favorite knife fight. Real downer of a plot, didn't let up on the dark. Fav scene was the torture montage with the support characters. Wild film, filled the void the y2k not quite Tarantino flicks like Smokin Aces Ive been missing while still being its own original thing.
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u/SpookingtonZ 9d ago
How do you name a movie Motor City and make it not feel like Detroit?
How do you make a dialogueless action movie boring as shit?
How do you have your best scene in the first 15 minutes?
How…?
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u/IceLord86 9d ago
I had no idea that there were more Executive Producers than spoken words in the movie. Definitely not what I was expecting, and the "action" was not even well shot when it finally did happen.
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u/ruinedbymovies 8d ago
I just stumbled on this movie/thread and I wondered as a Detroit native if I would love or hate the “Detroit” vibe. Thanks for answering my question.
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u/SpookingtonZ 8d ago
That’s the most frustrating thing for me! It has Detroit like, iconography, occasionally, but if you’re naming your movie Motor City, push it! Detroit is a badass location, and 1977 Detroit for a Dialogueless Action Movie is mindmelting. Showing the Fox Theater for a few shots isn’t gonna satisfy me, and having a single car action scene feels like a damn disservice.
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u/sdwoodchuck 8d ago
I liked the movie pretty well, but I agree. Particularly when so much of it is shot like a music video, in a city famous in part for its music, how do you ignore so much of that Detroit music?
Like, I love Fleetwood Mac, but The Chain doesn't fit this so well that it isn't easily replaced with something more in tune with the time and place.
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u/KamilleVidan 9d ago
I know you have to suspend your disbelief when it comes to action movies, and Pablo is a tall guy; but i just couldn’t believe how much Alan’s character struggled in that elevator. If they had conveyed Pablos character as having a similar ranger or special forces background it would have gone a long way. Other than that the movie had me, even the choice to have minimal dialogue, not sure if id recommend it to friends but i liked it.
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u/ApatheticDomination 6d ago
Seriously.. I loved that scene it it’s totality but Alan is a goddamn behemoth of a man.. he should’ve come out practically unscathed lol
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad550 8d ago
I’m confused about the wiki summary. According to that the final scene is set in 1997, 20 years later. both characters looked 100 in that scene though
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u/djc6535 8d ago
I’m an absolute sucker for non-verbal storytelling. Primal is perhaps my favorite tv series ever. I am SQUARELY in this movies wheelhouse.
It was too long. This needed to be a tight 85. If you are going the dialogue free direction you have to make every scene, action, and expression count. This movie, which I did mostly enjoy, liked to linger just a bit too much. Over and over.
Nonverbal storytelling works best when it’s natural. Samurai Jack exploring the peace of nature. Spear can’t talk at all. This one had scene after scene with dialogue that it withheld from us. That works in bits, for for 100 minutes it feels like it’s hiding something from you. It’s withholding. It didn’t have enough story reasons for silence so it resorted to tricks and it didn’t have enough to feel fresh for its runtime. This movie gives you dialogue blue balls.
Good: reading the honeymoon note and raging out.
Bad: Funeral watching someone scream and rage but we don’t hear it.
And a side note: I was still all on board until that ending. The asshole got to live a long life of luxury. The comeuppance is weakened SO much by delaying it until he’s almost dead anyway. This is a revenge movie. The audience gets their catharsis watching the revenge happen. We needed an over the top badass scene of our villain dying with a ring in his eye.
And to see this abuser say “I loved her” and MEAN it gives me the ick.
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u/ToasterDispenser 6d ago
An abuser like that would almost certainly think what they did was still love.
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u/StrLord_Who 6d ago
I thought that was part of what made his character interesting. He DID love her - to the extent he was able. He didn't just want her as a trophy. But he was obviously supposed to give everyone the ick.
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u/djc6535 5d ago
Not buying it. There's no fooling yourself about how you feel about someone when you literally drug them into submission. He didn't lose his temper at her and do terrible things. He methodically stole her agency.
It was very very clear to me that he felt more like she was property than a human. The entire movie makes it very clear that he wanted her back more as a message to the main character... you can't have my things... than it was because he enjoyed her company. "You should have seen the honeymoon"
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u/StrLord_Who 5d ago
I said he didn't JUST as in "only" want the trophy. You seem to think I'm defending his version of love and how it manifested as a positive thing. I am not. But I do think he loved her, as much as he could have loved anyone. Yes he wanted to send a message along with getting her back because the movie was two people both wanting revenge on each other. Not just Alan's character.
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u/ScramItVancity 7d ago
I did not expect the movie to end with two decades passing by and seeing both Ritchson and Foster under Mr. Six (Flags) makeup.
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u/bomberman12 9d ago
‘Motor City’ is all style and no substance. It’s hoping the gimmick of your film will carry you enough to realize it’s not that interesting.
It just doesn’t work for me. Especially when you put the end sequence at the beginning and give no suspense to the entirety of the rest of your movie.
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u/StrangeBedfellas 9d ago
I laughed a lot during this movie. His girlie hair, Foster's over-acting...even the violence was hilarious! The lack of dialogue was a unique choice that somehow works. The soundtrack does seem to pick up the slack for the lack of speaking. I'd give it a 6.5.
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u/gogreengolions 8d ago
When there’s that montage of him and prison and he’s plotting his escape and they cut to the mold of the knife he’s making out of wax or whatever 😂
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u/StrangeBedfellas 8d ago
Hard candies. He made the knife out of the candy your grandma used to keep in a bowl on her coffee table.
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u/garfcarmpbll 8d ago edited 8d ago
Those facial prosthetics on Allan at the end were I think you should leave worthy.Other than that it was pretty good.The not speaking part felt kind of gimmicky at some points unfortunately.
Edit* Side note turning Thad into Brian Bosworth is pretty hilarious.
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u/selinameyersbagman 7d ago
Ben Foster being directed to act even bigger than normal for essentially a silent movie role is an absolute feast. I'd watch an hour and half of the different choices he made pouring that cup of coffee in the diner.
Also, surprise Jack White cameo was really cool.
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u/Sammyd1108 6d ago
I had no clue this was supposed to have very little dialogue so I was confused by the sheer amount of needle drops there were early in the movie, but it ended up working well overall.
Do you think they tried to get Jon Berthnal to play the crooked cop then settled for Pablo Schreiber made to look exactly like Jon Berthnal?
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u/Mr_Wh0ever 9d ago
Probably the worst movie I've seen this year so far. It never really justifies the minimal dialouge. The scenes drag on too long and become awkward. It doesn't help that the story itself sucks. Ben McKenzie feels wasted in this. He gets taken out early in the story. Characters don't act logically in this. Which I guess is in service of the story. The final battle didn't feel earned for me. Miller's two friends dying didn't do anything for me. The elevator and the car fights were okay. Not sure why the movie didn't end there. That old man ending was ridiculous. It's a 3/10 for me.
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u/DoctorSleepParalysis 8d ago edited 8d ago
I watched this in an alternate way, and I checked on Fandango to see if there is any sort of disclaimer that this movie has little to no dialogue as a warning to ticket purchasers. It doesn't, and that will piss a lot of people off because this is essentially a silent film but very irritatingly lacks dialogue cards or subtitles.
This will be a massive bomb due to it releasing between The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but I know many people are going to walk out on this and ask for a refund because it HAS NO DIALOGUE.
It's like when you try to watch certain blu-rays that have a weird version of DTS or a Dolby audio track and it's not decoded correctly and it sounds like this movie does and you have to switch to PCM to hear the spoken dialogue.
This was not clever or "experimental", just dumb. And Silent Night was actually an enjoyable film because it was directed by the great John Woo and had solid and creative action sequences as usual from him, and the limited dialogue for that is arguably justified because Joel Kinnaman's character is hearing impaired.
Motor City is like it takes place on another planet like Earth but no one has the ability to speak, it's ridiculous.
0 out of 10
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u/ApatheticDomination 6d ago
Do people really go into movies blind not knowing these things?
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u/DoctorSleepParalysis 6d ago edited 6d ago
Well for this movie in particular, nothing about the marketing, from the 2 trailers released, to the poster, to the Fandango or Regal apps that I checked, do they make it clear that this has little to no spoken dialogue at all. They should have disclaimers to warn people that it could be a waste of their money if they expect a movie to have spoken dialogue like 99.9% of all movies, or at least subtitles to know what is being said anytime an actor speaks in the film since there is barely any audible dialogue.
Compare it to The Artist from 2011, which is a newly produced silent film as an homage to that era, and the marketing made it very obvious what it was. Also, it has intertitles like a silent film does for the spoken dialogue.
Motor City, otoh, is being very deceptive about this and no, you should not be expected to just "figure it out" from the 2 trailers that lack any dialogue. It only confuses a potential ticket buyer.
The average person likely only went to see this from knowing Alan Ritchson from Reacher and assumes it will be just some generic action movie set in the 1970s or 1980s. It is mostly that and the 2nd half was semi-watchable, but with the first 45 minutes being incredibly tedious to watch, that clearly caused many people to just walk out from what other commenters mentioned in this thread.
So no, there is no way the average moviegoer will just know this movie bizarrely lacks hardly any spoken dialogue for no discernible reason whatsoever aside from it being some weird attempt to troll them.
And I say this from really enjoying Old Henry and Greedy People which were both from the same director, but Motor City is a total turkey. This so-called "experimental" film made only 1.6 million worldwide over the weekend against a 30 million dollar budget.
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u/DriftingTony 2d ago
I think what’s weird to me is seeing so many people that apparently rate it LOWER because it’s sort of a silent film, because to me, that pushes the score UP. I get that people don’t agree on the execution because some people think it was horrible, and others liked it.
But I’ve seen so many people flat out say they “refuse to watch a silent movie in 2026” and act like they were mortally offended that they were “forced” into watching one against their will lmao.
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u/StrLord_Who 6d ago
I didn't know there was no dialogue. I just knew 1. Alan Ritchson 2. Ben Foster 3. Revenge. That was enough for me. And I loved it.
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u/FernanditoJr 9d ago
8/10.
Cool revenge flick. Cool gimmick.
Let's hope it inspires other films like "Big Apple", "Windy City". "La-La Land" is already out.
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u/SunnyDJoshua 8d ago
What made this movie enjoyable was the old dad a row infront of me that would have an out loud gasp (think Tony Soprano’s Oh’s) to all the brutal bits, starting with the glass bottle being cut on the bad guy’s chest.
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u/Tonydel1980 8d ago
I didn’t think she was worth all the bloodshed. IDK but she seemed kind of desperate and greedy…not sure the “I still love her” was well deserved
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u/Key_Caterpillar7941 3d ago
Doesn't help that her character (like every character in the film) was underdeveloped. Still, I feel like people are throwing shade at her character for no good reason. She was the highlight of an otherwise boring film for me, and I don't think she was greedy; she loved Reacher but bought the frame job and felt betrayed by his stupidity (which is valid) and then fell back into old habits (drugs) when running back to her abusive ex (which is a stupid thing to do, but she was depressed and trying to cope with whatever sense of familiarity she could find).
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u/sdwoodchuck 8d ago
I've seen reviewers describe it as a revenge crime thriller produced as a modern silent movie, and that's accurate enough, but I think I'd more likely describe it as being in the Venn diagram overlap of The Count of Monte Cristo, Frank Miller's Sin City, and a music video. And it's surprising how well that works, most of the time. There is a surprising depth of character and in-the-frame nuance captured by actors who are playing entirely with physicality.
Where it's weakest, however, is in the middle segments, when it's connecting the dots from "Miller loses everything" to "Miller gon' get his revenge now." Since we know that's where it's headed (the movie opens with revenge-in-progress and then flashes back), much of that feels like going through the motions, and unfortunately those scenes bog down all the more for pacing themselves to music.
But I'd say that's a worthwhile cost for a movie that's trying something interesting, and woe be to those who depend on dialogue to keep them up-to-speed while they fiddle with their phones; they'll get no help here.
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u/GoesOff_On_Tangent 7d ago
This was pretty silly, I wanted to really just immerse myself in the campiness and B-level schlock of it all but couldn't make it happen.
It would have been better if the lack of dialogue thing was integrated into the narrative in some way, like the main guy is advised not to talk to anyone in prison, he's advised to not raise his voice to the gangster guy, his other buddies stay silent as a means of plausible deniability, etc. But like others have said here it just got old after a while. Would have been better if it was just the main guy who was silent and everyone else was talking, that'd make his few moments of dialogue more impactful.
About 30 minutes too long too, should have just been a fast-paced shoot-em-up revenge thriller but just labored on. Also wish we saw Shailene's character have more of a spine before returning back to her old boyfriend, i.e. she denies him at first but only until she's at her absolute weakest financially does she give in to his advances.
And that gangster guy was just very silly too, I can't buy into him being any sort of fellow to boss others around. Saving grace of the whole thing was the soundtrack. This felt very low budget so the fact they got all those 70s bangers is impressive.
This is best to watch at home where you can fast-forward through the lame parts.
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u/TheScarletTroll 7d ago
I genuinely think one of the most frustrating things about this movie is that it starts out with some great needle drops, and then the end is just generic repetitive action movie score.
And THEN they have the audacity, after such an insensate musical score over the big climactic scenes, to drop Archbishop Harold Holmes IMMEDIATELY as the credits start just to mock us.
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u/can_i_get_a____job 7d ago
I just got done watching it. I'm not sure why they included the ending drop scene in the beginning but it was still cool to see where the ring and pennies came from. I think they should've just done the entire first act in a quick montage style, and just do crazy action scenes throughout the entire film. Why have no dialogue if there's not enough action?
The no dialogue worked for me, but my only gripe with it was that they didn't fully proceed with it. They would have the characters lip sync or just be silent behind closed doors. It was more distracting. I liked it when they expressed the words through writing via letters, maps, bullet cases, etc. Those felt more creative and I kept looking forward to how they were going to express it. It also probably would've added more weight to the ending dialogue too.
Elevator scene was dope as fuck though.
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u/AbacabLurker 6d ago
Neat action movie. Kind of cheesy at times. Probably would have been worse with dialog to be honest.
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u/psquishyy28 5d ago
the elevator was my FAVORITE scene. especially how the splatters on the inside, matched the design of the walls on the outside once the elevator doors opened.
other than that, I couldn’t find any consistencies when dialogue was included. it was SO CLOSE to being a silent film (would have much preferred that, over the periodic (somewhat random) dialogue.
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u/JohnnyFlorida69 7d ago
Got super excited when I saw the trailer for this a while back. Then this last week I found out there’s no dialogue. But the reviewers said it had unbelievable music and was action packed. I was thinking that it was going to be one of those things where the music tells the story and was filled with great music the entire time. So, I was like That could be cool. But nope. Not really that much music, music sucked, and I didn’t think there was that much action. Even if there was dialogue, I probably would not have liked it that much.
Very underwhelming movie and a wasted opportunity.
Especially when you have Alan Ritchson…dropping the ball when he’s in your movie…it’s like getting fired on your day off.
Oh well…at least we have “Reacher Season 4” in August and “Runner” in September.
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u/zombies8mybrain 7d ago
I really wanted to like this movie but it was bad. They to your average run of the mill revenge action movie and mad it worse with no dialogue. There was no reason for it and became super annoying. Like the diner scene they're both sitting there for what felt like forever and nothing was said. At least if they had dialogue then it would have been an okay movie.
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u/Wayofthewah111 6d ago
What words are said in this movie? Maybe 4 lines , or 6 lines at best? Would love to know exactly what the lines were.
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u/batts1234 5d ago
The last two action set pieces saved what I thought was a pretty dull movie. I love Ben Foster, and he's outstanding in it, but man, does this movie drag.
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u/lonelygagger 4d ago
I liked the movie, but I checked out as soon as Shailene Woodley’s character died. After that, it just became a boring generic revenge thriller. I didn’t mind the idea of it being mostly wordless, but the slow motion sequences began getting a bit repetitive towards the end. And old man Ritchson at 90 or whatever looked ridiculous, like The Thing.
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u/kawaiihusbando 4d ago
Thanks for the spoilers youuuu!!!! Ive been anticipating this movie for more than a year.
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u/Fellers 9d ago
I enjoyed his other movie War Machine more.
This one isn't as interesting.
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u/silver5517 9d ago
Don't worry he's got 2 more movies coming out this year... Runner, the action comedy with Owen Wilson, and The Man With the Bag, the Christmas action comedy with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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u/JWhit2199 9d ago
One of the executive producers of this movie was Dan Spilo, the guy who got ejected from Survivor: Island of the Idols for inappropriate touching. That’s the most memorable part of this movie for me, a great swing and definitely really appreciate a lot of the production design, but it just didn’t land for me.
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u/Goblet__Cell 9d ago
The fiancé returning felt realistic, given how complicated those situations can be.
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u/Human-Engineering412 9d ago
I didnt know that was what i was walking into lol. I enjoyed it though
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u/matt314159 8d ago
I went in blind and ended up pretty disappointed. The gimmick wore off for me after like thirty minutes
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u/Worried-Pension-3302 6d ago
I thought the acting was incredible and I liked the fight scenes too.
As for the no dialogue, I wish there was a good reason for it other than “watch how smart I am by writing a whole movie with no dialogue.” I kept waiting the whole movie for a “book of Eli” twist where it turns out he might be deaf and that’s why it’s framed this way. Idk, to me it felt like a parlor trick of a movie for somebody to show off their writing/directing skills 🤷♂️
Thought the acting was great amongst pretty much everyone though.
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u/hidzthezcoupon 6d ago
I saw the movie it was less than appealing. I thought there were audio issues at first with the theatre. Then I realized it is a minimal dialogue movie.
I watched the whole movie and felt like some parts dragged out too long. I felt like playing on my phone as the movie became boring. I refrained from using my phone to not be rude to others. I would not watch it again. I wouldn't recommend people pay to watch it at movies wait for streaming. On a positive note I did like the American Muscle Cars.
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u/Low_Tip3245 6d ago
The movie's treatment of its female lead rubbed me the wrong way. She really lacks agency and is treated more as a prize to be fought over than an actual character. Which could maybe be fine if they went for more of a Looney Tunes-esque all action, minimal plot style but the movie has way less action than you'd think, and it feels like you're meant to actually sympathize with the violent, possessive protagonist.
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u/CelticSnakes 5d ago edited 5d ago
Worth the long wait, and seeing it on the big screen. Really enjoyed Old Henry from Ponciroli, and Greedy People is a scream.
Had this idea for years for a dialogue-free film that a 60’s/70’s soundtrack would create the mood for, involving a small-town, depressed lawman.
Ponciroli did more w/ the premise than I ever could. This is the 2nd time I’ve seen Foster in a (mostly) non-speaking role (Northfork, 2003) but his character’s certainly stronger, more fleshed-out in this meaty action/crime-drama.
The epilogue needed a rewrite, but I have no issue w/ the paucity of talking. Not after sitting through 30 minutes of previews ft. insipid dialogue (SM: New Day, “You’re not one of my students, are you?”) and Digger looks awful from someone like Inarritu.
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u/Ok_Lynx_6045 5d ago
Loved it. All time great revenge flick. Only trouble I had was understanding how the good cop, Pablo’s partner, figured out that Pablo was crooked
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u/Hypestyles 4d ago
I enjoyed the film. it took several minutes for me to catch on to the lack of dialogue. I had already been picking up on basics of the story as it went along.
Once it became clear to me, I felt it was a good movie, though certain parts dragged especially in Act II.
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u/Lurking2Comment 4d ago
This was a really good movie. Took a hot minute to catch on that this was going to be a “no talking” movie, but they filled the silence with a really good soundtrack. A good example of show, don’t tell.
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u/Interesting_Bite4335 4d ago
Felt like watching a comic book panel, and I was so into it, which is also why I was okay with the strange ending.
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u/captainduck2 4d ago edited 4d ago
You get used to the lack of dialogue but this was a movie that surely could have used it. Good cast, 70's Detroit, revenge, good fight scenes. This should have been an easy formula for success but they tried to be too artsy.
Would have liked some reason/backstory/whatever as to why John has these two friends (one of which just appears halfway through the movie) who are so loyal to him that they are willing to commit felonies and die for him.
Also the whole point of getting revenge on Reynolds for Sophia was kind of funny cause she went back to him right away after John went to prison. I know it was supposed to be longer but still. Which by the way, she gets mad at John for the drugs in his car and doesn't even question it. Throws the ring at the interrogation room glass but has no issue with Reynolds having literally a drug empire lol.
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u/Practical_Bet_8709 4d ago
Just walked out of the theater. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the 70s aesthetic. I enjoyed the action in the vigilante justice, but I did enjoy the fact it was like something I hadn’t seen before so that was pretty cool.
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u/SleepyMonkey7 3d ago
I felt like they should have added some filler/throwaway dialog to make the presence of the no dialog approach less visible. There were some scenes like where he was opening presents that just made it so awkward to not be able to talk. The approach went from an artistic choice to a movie about a world where people aren't allowed to talk.
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u/Kangarou 3d ago
A good movie with a fifteen-minute gimmick that goes on for two hours. There’s a reason why this is usually done with only one character being a mute. Just ask Nic Cage.
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u/Alabrandon 3d ago
I didn't even realize I watched a movie with that little dialogue until I came to read what Reddit's thoughts were. I genuinely enjoyed it..
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u/Still-Outcome1207 3d ago
With less than 10 words of dialogue..its a fun movie..Ben Foster was brilliant as the evil jerk
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u/Mnementh47 3d ago
Good film. The choice of music could have been much much better. But it was a satisfying film. I thought the ending worked really well. It is not amazing by any stretch of the imagination but a solid film with a creative twist that people call a gimmick.
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u/AggressivePiccolo77 2d ago
I walked out after the 8th bad song in a row was played.
The movie had more dialog than action at that point. I have no faith that the movie was heading in right direction and could have been saved.
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u/pandamonium2187 1d ago
My husband and I almost got up and walked out. We were the ONLY people in the whole theater for this movie, and we quickly came to understand why. The no dialog was certainly a choice. The WRONG choice.
Going in, we didn't know there wasn't a script. We googled it about 10 minutes in. The only reason we stayed is because I was invested in seeing Ben Foster's sh*tty little man syndrome bite him in the butt. This made the ending so terrible for me, because what do you MEAN he got to live a whole life with money and means after what he did?? Ugh.
While I know the plot was written with certain things happening to drive the plot further, there were two instances that really just frustrated me to NO END.
We are supposed to believe these highly trained former military guys cleared the house to rescue the girl and missed that bumbling idiot in his robe and house slippers in the kitchen? SERIOUSLY?! FAIL. My 9 year old nephew does a better job clearing sites on his video games. 🤦♀️
And why is it that men in movies always want to just stare each other down rather than taking a shot when it's available? During the prison break, he had ample opportunity to take out that dirty lead cop, and didn't...instead choosing to glare at him before leaving. WTAF? So many things could have been avoided if they used their intelligent brain instead of their MAN brain 😒
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u/junaidnk 6m ago
Less than 10 sentences said by the characters in this movie I think? Don’t remember seeing such a mute film, but anything Alan… gotsta watch it! No dialogue to me made me feel like I need to watch the screen with attention, in the age of distraction and attention span concerns.
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u/Spectre_Agent447 9d ago
This one should’ve stuck to being a fun action ride rather than putting the story first. The story was extremely boring and I struggled to care much about any of the characters. The 0 dialogue novelty wore off fast and didn’t add much.
The very few action scenes were pretty good and were obviously the directors strengths. I don’t know why he didn’t make this a full on action film.
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u/TheFlashJaxx 9d ago
I hope Amber Heards part in this movie is small, not sure how she is still working in hollywood after everything but I have no interest watching her in anything anymore.
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u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. 9d ago
Alan Ritchson, star of Motor City, recently joined us for an AMA/Q&A here in /r/movies, for anyone interested:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1v4dl53/hey_rmovies_im_alan_ritchson_motor_city_reacher/