A good movie that should draw Oscar attention.. but not a great one.

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2017)

I sat through a long 2 hours and 15 minutes to watch Detroit because I'm a Kathryn Bigelow fan and was in the mood for a hard core drama. Neither of them disappointed.
Detroit is excellently directed by Bigelow once again, and the drama doesn't get any grittier than this. After a somewhat slow introductory 30 minutes, once the main story gets in gear, it is riveting.
However, for me, the film fell short as a whole. It is a movie that without doubt will attract award and Oscars buzz, and perhaps as a work of art, deservedly so. But I must say that I don't think this is the time to release a film like this. It felt like it was ill timed with the material, and I don't think that it's a time to relive these events.
I say this because clearly it's a story Bigelow wanted to tell and delve into the topic. I just don't think this is the time to do it. In fact, the story is basically a semi- step by step retelling of the more recent LA riots- particularly the Rodney King story that started it.
Personally, I also did not like Will Poulter's performance. I can tell when actors are imitating other actors rather than just doing their own take,, and it seemed like he was doing his Matt Damon+ Mark Wahlberg impersonation to play the head cop (or is he somehow related to them?). I just couldn't help but think the role was written for one of those two, who have played bad cops before, but they probably didn't want racist language attached to their star so Poulter got the part. He's good, but I felt like that role could have been played even more convincing by a different actor.
Look, this is a good movie, and at times it is truly incredibly powerful. I almost called it a flawed masterpiece because a good portion and majority of the film is masterful and masterfully directed, but as a whole, it just didn't totally hold or add up. It's just not a movie I'd want to watch again, but for a one time viewing, I'd recommend a look. Bigelow is a master director and because of that, you can't go wrong checking out Detroit.
7/10