Suggested Viewing

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Written by Wendell Mayes. Directed by Otto Preminger. Starring James Stewart, Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick, and George C. Scott. In this engaging courtroom drama set in the Upper Peninsula [2], a small-town lawyer struggles to defend his client, a hotheaded army lieutenant arrested for the murder of a bartender who supposedly assaulted his wife. Based on the famous novel by a former Michigan judge.

8 Mile (2002)

Written by Scott Silver. Directed by Curtis Hanson. Starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, and Brittany Murphy. During the course of one critical week, a young, angry rapper from the wrong side of Detroit’s [1] 8 Mile tries to achieve his musical goals while struggling with various problems in his life.

Escanaba in da Moonlight (2001)

Written and directed by Jeff Daniels. Starring Jeff Daniels. In this whimsical comedy about deer-hunting season amid the wilds of the Upper Peninsula [2], a man must deal with his eldest son’s curse of never having killed a buck of his own.

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

Written by Tom Jankiewicz, D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, and John Cusack. Directed by George Armitage. Starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd, and Alan Arkin. In this dark comedy, a professional assassin is forced to reevaluate his life when he returns home to Grosse Pointe [3], Michigan, for a contract hit and, coincidentally, his 10-year high school reunion.

Hoffa (1992)

Written by David Mamet. Directed by Danny DeVito. Starring Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito. Based on the story of legendary labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, this controversial film follows his tumultuous career to his 1975 disappearance.

Out of Sight (1998)

Written by Scott Frank. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, and Don Cheadle. Based on the eponymous Elmore Leonard novel, this gritty crime thriller follows the unlikely relationship between a career thief and a female U.S. marshal, from the sweltering heat of Miami to the bitter cold of Detroit [1].

The Road to Wellville (1994)

Written and directed by Alan Parker. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, and John Cusack. Based on the eponymous novel, this madcap comedy explores the inner workings of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, an unusual health facility run by cereal king Dr. John Harvey Kellogg during the late 19th century.

RoboCop (1987)

Written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, and Kurtwood Smith. In a futuristic, crime-ridden Detroit [1], a fatally wounded cop returns to the city’s overrun police force as a powerful cyborg, determined to clean up the streets.

Roger & Me (1989)

Written and directed by Michael Moore. In the first of several films that have defined Moore’s “docuganda” style, the filmmaker tries to confront GM head Roger Smith about the massive downsizing that contributed to Flint’s decline.

Somewhere in Time (1980)

Written by Richard Matheson, based on his novel. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc. Starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer. After meeting an elderly actress who seems to know him from the past, a young Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back to the early 1900s, where he embarks upon an ill-fated love affair inside Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel [4].

The Upside of Anger (2005)

Written and directed by Mike Binder. Starring Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, Evan Rachel Wood, and Mike Binder. When her husband unexpectedly vanishes from their wealthy Detroit [1] suburb, a sharp-tongued wife and mother of four daughters turns to alcohol, anger, and an unlikely romance with her boozy neighbor to help her cope with her husband’s abandonment.