Besides introducing the 1967 riots in Detroit to a larger audience that may not be familiar with that part of history, the primary reason to see this movie is for the recreation of the Algiers Motel Incident. That actual recreation itself is quite something, and is done in an almost real-time manner that it's easy to feel the tension of the scenes. It gets pretty tense at certain moments that it was almost on the verge of being like a horror movie. Some might say it's like torture porn at particular points.
I'm not going to get into the finer details of the incident because I'm not doing spoilers, but let's just say that I was on the edge of my seat during the incident. That Algiers Motel Incident is the centerpiece that people will be talking about, but unfortunately the content surrounding it is at best serviceable. I'm unsure why Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal decided on the narrative structure they did, but the film as a whole is unbalanced. The reason I say that is although the incident itself is a strong visual dramatization that needs to be seen, the book ends that surround it just didn't work with me as much. The story started off at an acceptable level, but by the end of the movie, it felt like it goes on much longer than it needed to be. I however was admittedly captivated by the whole thing anyway.
The cast is undeniable good in this. From Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Hannah Murray, Ben O'Toole, Will Bouvier, John Boyega, to the rest of the huge ensemble cast. Kudos to their work in this. It's a powerful piece of cinema, but it's inherently flawed in the story telling aspects.
lovedit ENJOYED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible
