Is 'No Sudden Move' the great movie about the city that Detroiters have been waiting for?
Detroiters watch movies about Detroit to see if there ever will be one that really gets the city. It's been a difficult search so far, given how many projects use the Motor City as a backdrop  and how few of them feel authentic. The 2002 hit "8 Mile" is probably the best-known  and overall best  attempt so far, but it forever will be the Eminem movie, with the D relegated to co-star billing. "Lost River," a surrealistic 2014 drama by Ryan Gosling, had bleak style to spare, but it ran off-course in its interpretation of Detroit as some futuristic "Mad Max" of urban desolation. "Gran Torino," a well-crafted 2008 Clint Eastwood vehicle, dealt with the bigotry of a retired autoworker, but there's always a hero hidden inside the Clint squint. Here, he projected more of a "hey, kids, get off my lawn" grumpiness. But at least "Gran Torino," "Lost River" and "8 Mile" were filmed locally. Too often, Detroit is played on the big screen by imposters. The original 1987 "RoboCop" was shot mostly in Dallas and had a key location near Pittsburgh. Los Angeles soundstages were used for the bulk of 2006's "Dreamgirls," the Motown-inspired fable that established its sense of place with a so-so automobile-themed song, "Cadillac Car." For a truly roadworthy tune, consult "Freeway of Love." Even the 2019 Netflix drama The Irishman, starring Al Pacino as Detroit labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, used New York as a double. It provoked eye-rolls among those in the know by putting the now-gone Machus Red Fox restaurant  the last place Hoffa was seen alive  on a rustic two-lane highway, not a major, multi-lane artery like Telegraph Road. And the 1990 action flick "Bird on a Wire," shot primarily in Vancouver, added insult to injury by including a geographically ludicrous ferry from Detroit to Racine, Wisconsin. Gee, that four-hour towing of the ship over land to reach Lake Michigan must have been a real drag. If Detroiters feel disappointed with most cinematic interpretations of their hometown, they should. Too many filmmakers lack an understanding of the city and just toss a few Lions or Pistons T-shirts into the wardrobe or show a few seconds of the RenCen skyline. But at the risk of being overly enthusiastic, I would nominate "No Sudden Move," filmed and set in Detroit, and now streaming on HBO Max, as one of the few movies to offer a realistic portrayal of the city, flaws and all. Director Steven Soderbergh  who also shot the 1998 Elmore Leonard adaptation "Out of Sight" here  and screenwriter Ed Solomon did their research on Detroit's political and automotive past in order to accurately convey the plot's mid-1950s milieu. The production team went to great lengths to be visually accurate, paying scrupulous attention to the smallest details to re-create the Eisenhower era on the sets. Three-pronged outlets were replaced with two-pronged ones. Kitchen drawers were filled with old utensils, even if they were left closed during filming. Dozens of vintage cars were employed for exterior shots, giving the street scenes a sense of credibility and harkening back to a time when automobiles were drivable sculptures dotted with chrome and sporting futuristic fins. And Detroit's architectural gems, like the former General Motors headquarters in Midtown, glimmer onscreen like shrines to the white-collar prosperity of a blue-collar factory town. But appreciation for a bygone Detroit isn't the only strength of "No Sudden Move." What lends substance to "No Sudden Move" is its subtext about power and privilege  the people who wield "the big stick," as the film's star, Don Cheadle, puts it. More:Don Cheadle says Detroit 'absolutely a character' after filming 'No Sudden Move'  More:Director Steven Soderbergh donates two COVID-19 mobile health vehicles to Detroit  The subtext behind the story of this complicated crime caper, like so many classic noir films, is one of corruption. In Soderbergh and Solomon's vision, the American dream collides with the dirty laundry of how things actually run in an imperfect society. On the face of it, "No Sudden Move" is about small-time crooks who are assigned a menial task in a scheme requiring the stealing of documents from a GM office. As things turn ugly quickly, Cheadle's character scrambles to stay alive and figure out what's really going on. He becomes a pawn in a game that involves auto executives, crime bosses and dubious cops, all of whom may have more in common than they think. With superb actjng by Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Bill Duke and the rest of the stellar cast, the movie can be enjoyed purely as summer entertainment done with confidence and elegance. But it leaves you thinking about lingering issues. Greed is a big motivator here, especially the corporate variety. The movie reveals a fact-based twist at the end regarding accusations that the auto industry violated what was best for customers (and human beings in general). The real-life coda to this fictional story could fuel an entirely separate mini-series  and here's hoping Soderbergh considers making it. Without blowing the surprise, suffice it to say that it involves the then-Big Four and the Justice Department, which definitely were not on friendly terms. "No Sudden Move" also illustrates how a racially-divided Detroit was governed in the mid-1950s by a white power structure that didn't treat its Black residents with the respect and decency they deserved. The city's now-gone Black Bottom neighborhood is depicted in certain scenes. One conversation touches on how the thriving African-American area would soon be replaced by development that included the Chrysler Freeway. A character tells Cheadle's Curt Goynes that such urban renewal is "more like Negro removal." Black Bottom was a long-established community of businesses, restaurants, shops and much more. As author Alice Randall put it in her evocative 2020 novel "Black Bottom Saints," it was a "caramel Camelot" that was home to Detroit's African-American leaders and innovators of the day. Detroit  and other cities across the country  treated its Black centers of commerce as disposable. There was a pattern of encroaching upon or destroying such neighborhoods in the name of progress. Only now are city governments looking to restore some of the places that they devalued at the time. "No Sudden Move" is a crime thriller, but it edges closer to tackling the hard truths that make for great art. It isn't afraid to argue that those with money create their own rules or that it's never easy going up against the big sticks. Detroit has survived several existential crises in the decades since the 1950s depicted in "No Sudden Move." The city has moved toward a better version of fairness and equity, but there is still much work to be done to achieve long-sought social justice. And that goes for the rest of the country, too. Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture writer Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.