'Motor City' Star Ben Foster Discusses His Compelling Villain And Unique Crime Film
FilmSpeak had the pleasure of sitting down with actor Ben Foster to discuss his new film Motor City, his lovable villain Reynolds and the complicated nature of the character.
‘Motor City’ takes place in 1970s Detroit where a man named John Miller (Alan Ritchson) makes the grave mistake of falling for a local gangster’s girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley). As retaliation, the gangster named Reynolds (Ben Foster) successfully puts a plan into motion that frames Miller for murder and sends him away to prison. With his life in shambles, Miller decides to enact a plan of his own that involves him escaping from prison and seeking revenge against the man who ripped his life away from him.
The film benefits from the unique approach of virtually no dialogue, essentially playing out like a silent film for the vast majority of this runtime. Naturally, the cast director Potsy Ponciroli assembled would have to do the heavy lifting on camera and fortunately casting the likes of Ritchson, Woodley and especially Foster was inspired, the central trio able to tell this story through physical, nuanced performances. Foster’s villainous gangster Reynolds is a notable standout, his look and presence stealing nearly every scene he’s in. When discussing the intricate and 70s-drenched aesthetic of the character, Foster stated, “Why not Cuban heels? Why not a coke nail? It’s like developing a photo. You just keep reading the script and yes it’s sparse in dialogue, but the action and the story and the momentum of the characters is so clear and then you put your own interpretation on it with your collaborators and hope they dig it.”
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Reynolds isn’t a two-dimensional and cliche gangster. He’s a complicated and fiery man with a burning love for Sophia, a love that puts the wheels of the plot into motion. In a previous interview, Foster described Reynolds as a man who would put out a fire with gasoline for the woman he loved. He added to that sentiment while discussing the benefit of the film’s minimal dialogue by stating, “So much of our life is spent trying to say what we feel and be understood and so often we fail as human animals. What was exciting was that we don’t have to do so much of that. It’s actually feeling those things in between the noise we just pump out every day…so to me as a fan of silent film and Looney Tunes like yeah this is how it is to be a person. It’s just nasty and sexy and funny and people, we fail ourselves every day and it’s beautiful we keep fighting for it and I love that about us as a species.”
Foster also discussed the pleasure he experienced sharing the screen with his scene partners Ritchson and Woodley, the three of them embracing the looseness and raw physicality of their characters who are ensnared in a nasty and perilous love triangle. He expressed, “The high that I chase is being surprised. I don’t need to know, in fact I prefer not to know Tom what someone else is gonna do. That way you’re jamming with each other and you’re defending your corner and when the chemicals of people come together, there can be something eruptive and that for me is exciting as a human and as a moviegoer. We knew what we were intending which was not doing something overly sophisticated, but something that’s gritty and sexy and dirty and fun and graphic and the only way through that is to be present.”
Not only does Foster deliver yet another highly compelling and magnetic villainous turn in the film, but the virtually dialogue free approach to the storytelling works wonderfully in the movie’s favor, letting the central performances and the grimy, gritty visual aesthetic do the talking. This approach to the story may not connect with some audiences, but those who choose to meet the film on its singular wavelength will find much to enjoy, especially the action sequences which make the slow burn more than worth the wait. Crime films are a dime a dozen, but ‘Motor City’ manages to stand out from the crowded pack and does so with ample style and panache.