Motor City

 

In 1977 Detroit, blue-collar ex-con John Miller (Alan Ritchson) looks forward to starting a new life with Sophia (Shailene Woodley), but her jealous gangster ex-boyfriend Reynolds (Ben Foster) has other ideas. To get Sophia back, he frames Miller for a crime, sending him to prison and on a quest for revenge.

Director Potsy Ponciroli’s stylish action film weds a standard revenge plot to an approach that is anything but. Motor City’s dialogue is minimal to the point of near-nonexistence while its soundtrack – mostly 70s rock – is omnipresent. This calls to mind Walter Hill’s “rock opera” Streets of Fire, but it’s a grittier, bloodier affair. To be certain, it’s gimmicky, and some of the pantomiming does get to be a bit much. However, for two thirds of the movie, it works surprisingly well.

A lot of that success comes down to some smart choices. The music aids the visual storytelling as do the period details (retro clothes, retro cars, everybody smokes). It also helps that the cast’s prior work helps to shade their characters in the absence of dialogue. Foster has played plenty of twitchy, vicious lowlifes while Ben McKenzie, notable as James Gordon in Gotham, again takes up the mantle of an honest cop on a corrupt force. For his part, Ritchson sells both anguish and cold fury. There's also the added amusement of Detroit native Jack White playing Christmas music on a piano. 

Unfortunately, Motor City’s magic does not last forever. The final third devolves into excess and cliché. As the stakes escalate, so too does the mayhem, albeit in a cartoonish, pull out all the stops way that undermines the more grounded drama that preceded it. A time-skip ending featuring dubious old-age makeup doesn’t help matters.

While Motor City’s premise and unevenness limit its appeal, when it works, it’s pulpy, propulsive fun.

Rustic Barn Restaurant

Located at 10372 Martinsville Highway in Danville, Rustic Barn Restaurant serves Asian fusion cuisine. It is open from 12-9 on weekends, 3-9 Tuesday-Friday, and closed Mondays. Online ordering is available.

Housed at the end of a highway strip mall outside of Danville, Rustic Barn is neither rustic nor a barn. It is, improbably, a fantastic Asian fusion restaurant. Yes, you read that right.

The idiosyncrasies do not stop with the name. Inside, The Rustic Barn offers an intimate space with low lighting and some interesting décor: random photos of locomotives adorn the wall. The menu skews Thai albeit with some Japanese dishes (gyoza, teriyaki, yaki udon) and a few (a burger, a steak and potatoes) that fit the establishment’s rurally suggestive name.

The proprietor, Jeb, is gracious and accommodating as well as a showman who likes to joke with his guests. His promise of “everything fresh, everything homemade” is a lot to live up to, but the kitchen here has the chops to deliver on that promise.

Our group went with a pair of starters (crab rangoons and gyoza), a pair of curries (roadhouse and green), and a pair of noodle dishes (yaki udon and pad Thai). Everything was attractively plated and delicious. The rangoons were hand-formed into delicate shapes and contained plenty of filling while the gyoza were nice and crisp. My entrée was the roadhouse curry: the house version of Massaman. A hearty dish, it boasted thick-cut vegetables and a rich sauce done to the desired (a little bit spicy) level of heat. Prices are moderate (entrees start in the upper teens), but portions are plenty filling.

 

Given how many Danville restaurants were closed on a Sunday evening, I count myself lucky that The Rustic Barn was not among them. If you come here seeking country cooking, you’ll be confused and perhaps disappointed. But if you know what you’re getting yourself into, the combination of personable service and tasty food in an offbeat location makes this the epitome of a hidden gem.

The Odyssey

 

Odysseus (Matt Damon), King of Ithaca, reluctantly leaves home to support the war efforts of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and his brother Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) against Troy to force the return of the latter’s wife, Helen (Lupita Nyongo). After Odysseus engineers a plan that leads to the sacking of Troy, he and his men take a slower route home. Along the way, they encounter monsters that threaten their survival and tempt the wrath of the gods. Meanwhile, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope (Ann Hathaway) fends off many suitors in his absence, hoping for his return while their son Telemachus (Tom Holland) seeks news of his fate

Given the scope and scale of his last movie (2023’s Oppenheimer), it seemed fitting that Christopher Nolan would turn his attention toward a mythological epic. He delivers adroit, suspenseful visual storytelling and gets a lot out of his talented cast, but some of his creative choices leave the film feeling a bit hollow.

As with the director’s prior work, Nolan’s attention to detail and choice of composer make for a spectacle that commands our attention. From the chaotic combat of battle-ravaged Troy to the lonesome beauty of  Ogygia, The Odyssey is visually diverse enough to offset any tedium that might otherwise arise from watching dudes sail aimlessly for three hours. Ludwig Gonarsson’s score is arguably the tensest put to a Nolan film, which, given Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, is saying quite a lot. When paired with the gruesome design of Polyphemus the Cyclops and sickening transformations that the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) brings about, The Odyssey plays like a horror film at times, a counterbalance to its more somber and sentimental moments.

The biggest bone of contention is not Nolan’s craftsmanship but rather the modern sensibility he brings to the source material. This goes beyond casting choices (the subject of inane complaints from Internet trolls), contemporary idiom, and American accents and extends to the film’s themes. Damon’s Odysseus is haunted by the atrocities of war, which will resonate with post-Vietnam, post-Iraq/Afghanistan Americans but also plays as anachronistic given the setting. The gods, central figures in myth, are reduced to peripheral presences, save for Odysseus’s recurring visions of Athena (played by Zendaya). The overt call for human beings to treat one another better, while channeling the classical importance of "guest-friendship," seems more a palliative for our current sociopolitical situation than anything  else. Collectively, these moves are akin to putting on a costume that looks splendid but just doesn’t quite fit right. And yet, if Nolan didn’t bring something novel to the table, this latest version of an oft-told tale might have lost its raison d’etre. To Hades if you do, to Hades if you don’t.

Fortunately, the cast makes for a fairly effective diversion from this bit of disappointment. Hathaway breathes fire into what could have been a one-note “grieving (de facto) widow” role. Robert Pattinson makes for a love-to-hate villain as the slimy, conspiratorial suitor Antinuous. John Leguizamo, handed a rare straight dramatic role as loyal swineherd Ememaus, showcases range that he rarely gets to put to use. Casting the Harvard-educated Damon as the smart guy among the Greek forces makes sense on a meta level, and he certainly brings anguish and conviction (to say nothing of an unintentionally funny Boston accent) to the role, but the absence of Odysseus’s trickster qualities really flattens the character.

All told, The Odyssey is a rousing, eminently watchable film whose pointed stabs at contemporary relevance sometimes remind us of what it could have been.

The Gathering Table

 

Located at 5635 Riverdale Drive in Furnitureland South in Jamestown, The Gathering Table offers sandwiches, salads, and flatbreads. It is open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except for Sunday. There is an outdoor dining area, and online ordering is available. Specials change weekly.

Despite the strong positive reviews The Gathering Table received, I felt a bit uncertain about stopping here for lunch. Though IKEA’s banging Swedish meatballs are an example to the contrary, one can be forgiven for thinking that dining options at a massive furniture store will get by on proximity and convenience. I was also not looking to shop for any furniture, and while The Gathering Table advertised itself as open to all, would I stick out like a sore thumb amid furniture folks?

Fortunately, these concerns were largely for nought. The Gathering Table is spacious and nicely appointed with lots of light, some foliage, and, fittingly, comfortable seating. Though there were few patrons when I stopped by, it wasn’t dead enough to raise any eyebrows.

The menu here is bistro fare with a good assortment of light and fresh options. I went for an Italian sandwich on focaccia though the steak and bleu salad and the chicken and pesto flatbread were strong contenders as well. At under $15 with chips and a drink, the sandwich represented a decent value these days.

The cashier, likely still in training, was very nervous, but thankfully, he had the support of the rest of the staff. The Gathering Table’s kitchen definitely knows what it’s doing, and it turned around orders quickly.

My Italian sandwich was shockingly good. The bread was warm and soft, and they didn’t skimp on the meats (ham/salami/pepperoni) or cheese (fresh mozzarella). The vegetables (greens and tomato) added a refreshing crispness while the oil and vinegar supplied a bit of tang. This was honestly one of the best non-Giacomo’s Italian sandwiches of recent memory.

Perhaps because of its location, The Gathering Table tends to fly under the radar. However, it’s a more than worthy lunch option for anyone in the Jamestown area, furniture shopper or not.