The last post on this movie review blog, “The Invite,” was a movie that was 100% dialogue and violated the screenwriting mantra, “show don’t tell”. The new movie “Motor City” is the exact opposite, with about 8 words of dialogue, “all showing, no telling”. In the history of moviemaking, Motor City very likely has fewer words of dialogue than since silent films, making production more of an experiment about trying something new than a viable new movie idea.

Motor City stars Alan Ritchson (John Miller), a man who has just been released from probation and works in a factory in Detroit, Michigan, in 1977. John has a girlfriend, Sophia (played by Shailene Woodley), who works as both a waitress and a call girl for an evil criminal, Reynolds (played by Ben Foster). The story that follows we have all seen before, as John Miller is arrested for a crime he did not commit and sentenced to 25 years in prison. How he was set up is explained, all without dialogue, through subtle scenes, facial expressions, and an engagement ring that makes an appearance in many scenes throughout this story. There are some impressive action scenes, with a climax between John Miller and another criminal in an elevator that looked like it took some time to choreograph. Unfortunately, this “no dialogue action movie experiment” did not work.

I agree with the low 66% ratings for this movie and do not recommend it.