Writer/Director Jeremy Saulnier has been making films for a while but has finally broken through with an 'edge of your seat' thriller, 'Blue Ruin'. Initially made on a shoestring budget, I understand that additional funds were raised through a Kickstarter campaign for post-production and the film was actually bought for a US release by the Weinstein Company's RADiUS subsidiary. So kudos to Mr. Saulnier for successfully being picked up by a major Indie distributor.
To my mind, Mr. Saulnier's talent is mainly in the area of cinematography. The beginning of 'Blue Ruin' is brilliant as we follow the film's protagonist, Dwight, expertly acted by Macon Blair, who sports a beard and plays the part of a homeless drifter. What's remarkable about the opening scene is that the world of homelessness is so ably conveyed—Blair's Jesus-like vagrant gets down and dirty scrounging around for food right outside a carnival and making himself right at home in an old family car--a beaten up blue Pontiac (which figures prominently later on in the narrative).
Things get even more interesting when a police officer pulls up in a patrol car and brings Dwight to the station house. The twist is that he's not in trouble at all—in fact, the officer knows who he is and tries to warn him about impending trouble. A parolee has just been released from prison after almost twenty years and he's the guy who murdered Dwight's parents. It's a great twist turning Dwight, a seemingly menacing vagrant, into a most sympathetic character, a man who's endured playing the part of a most tragic victim, since he was a child.
Saulnier keeps you on the edge of your seat as Dwight decides to take revenge against the parolee, Will Cleland, the son of a deceased businessman. Dwight tails Cleland in his car and when the family stops at a rest stop (I guess it's some kind of redneck bar), Dwight kills him by stabbing him in the neck with a small knife (the Cleland family does not report the murder to the police and somehow manages to clean up the crime scene at the bar).
Probably the film's main shortcoming is that there's little character development here. After the stabbing, Dwight shaves off his beard and he now morphs back into his earlier self as a clean-cut all-American everyman. We later learn that Dwight kills Will because he believes he's responsible for the murder of his parents. One caveat however: Dwight's father had been having an affair with Will Cleland's mother years ago. That's about all we find out of any real significance, about Dwight's back story. The mild-mannered Dwight is consumed with rage and one wonders why such a laid back guy (who has no history of violence) would commit such an act of vengeance, since we soon see that the act of murder puts his sister Sam and her children, in jeopardy. Dwight immediately recognizes his faux pas (that the Clelands will be gunning for not only him but his sister too) and whisks his sister and her kids out of town.
If you're willing to suspend your disbelief, the next sequence is equally exciting as Will's brother, Teddy, and a pal, try to murder Dwight at his sister's house. Somehow Dwight manages to escape despite being shot in the leg with an arrow and also manages to lock Teddy in the trunk of his car. Dwight has to seek treatment at the hospital and one wonders why there were no red flags on the part of the doctors, when they're required to treat his leg wound (I'm sure not everyone comes into the hospital with an arrow wound—yes Dwight sawed off most of the arrow but wouldn't have the doctors recognized this was no ordinary wound?). Dwight then calls on an old high school pal, Ben, a gun nut, who teaches him how to fire a rifle. Ben saves the day when he shoots Teddy in the head at a distance after Dwight stupidly allows Teddy to escape from trunk and overwhelm him.
The Blue Ruin climax is a bit of a let down. With all the two Cleland brothers dead, Dwight goes to the Cleland house where he needs to finish off the two Cleland redneck wives, and possibly the teenage son. I won't say what happens in the house but Will and Teddy were far more scary than the wives and we never get to learn anything about them beforehand.
Blue Ruin reminds me very much of the 1948 noir, 'Act of Violence': that's also a tale about a man consumed with rage and seeking revenge. Almost the entire movie focuses on a character stalking his prey. Here's it's the same thing—and surprisingly, 'Act of Violence' also had problems with a lack of a back story.
Jeremy Saulnier has crafted a nifty 'thriller' where often the tension is quite palpable. He knows how to get top-notch performances out of his actors and the cinematography is as professional as found in many major studio films today. Nonetheless, since he's so caught up in telling this tale about an innocent man forced into a world of violence, he loses sight of the necessity of developing his characters. His antagonists end up as typical redneck bad guys and we also learn so little about Dwight. Only Dwight's old pal Ben, manages to exude some real personality.
Perhaps a few flashbacks would have been in order to flesh everybody out. Saulnier still knows quite a lot about the thriller genre; hopefully one of the major studios will let him direct his next feature with a bigger budget. If the script is a little stronger, and with his natural talent, Saulnier could have a blockbuster on his hands.
To my mind, Mr. Saulnier's talent is mainly in the area of cinematography. The beginning of 'Blue Ruin' is brilliant as we follow the film's protagonist, Dwight, expertly acted by Macon Blair, who sports a beard and plays the part of a homeless drifter. What's remarkable about the opening scene is that the world of homelessness is so ably conveyed—Blair's Jesus-like vagrant gets down and dirty scrounging around for food right outside a carnival and making himself right at home in an old family car--a beaten up blue Pontiac (which figures prominently later on in the narrative).
Things get even more interesting when a police officer pulls up in a patrol car and brings Dwight to the station house. The twist is that he's not in trouble at all—in fact, the officer knows who he is and tries to warn him about impending trouble. A parolee has just been released from prison after almost twenty years and he's the guy who murdered Dwight's parents. It's a great twist turning Dwight, a seemingly menacing vagrant, into a most sympathetic character, a man who's endured playing the part of a most tragic victim, since he was a child.
Saulnier keeps you on the edge of your seat as Dwight decides to take revenge against the parolee, Will Cleland, the son of a deceased businessman. Dwight tails Cleland in his car and when the family stops at a rest stop (I guess it's some kind of redneck bar), Dwight kills him by stabbing him in the neck with a small knife (the Cleland family does not report the murder to the police and somehow manages to clean up the crime scene at the bar).
Probably the film's main shortcoming is that there's little character development here. After the stabbing, Dwight shaves off his beard and he now morphs back into his earlier self as a clean-cut all-American everyman. We later learn that Dwight kills Will because he believes he's responsible for the murder of his parents. One caveat however: Dwight's father had been having an affair with Will Cleland's mother years ago. That's about all we find out of any real significance, about Dwight's back story. The mild-mannered Dwight is consumed with rage and one wonders why such a laid back guy (who has no history of violence) would commit such an act of vengeance, since we soon see that the act of murder puts his sister Sam and her children, in jeopardy. Dwight immediately recognizes his faux pas (that the Clelands will be gunning for not only him but his sister too) and whisks his sister and her kids out of town.
If you're willing to suspend your disbelief, the next sequence is equally exciting as Will's brother, Teddy, and a pal, try to murder Dwight at his sister's house. Somehow Dwight manages to escape despite being shot in the leg with an arrow and also manages to lock Teddy in the trunk of his car. Dwight has to seek treatment at the hospital and one wonders why there were no red flags on the part of the doctors, when they're required to treat his leg wound (I'm sure not everyone comes into the hospital with an arrow wound—yes Dwight sawed off most of the arrow but wouldn't have the doctors recognized this was no ordinary wound?). Dwight then calls on an old high school pal, Ben, a gun nut, who teaches him how to fire a rifle. Ben saves the day when he shoots Teddy in the head at a distance after Dwight stupidly allows Teddy to escape from trunk and overwhelm him.
The Blue Ruin climax is a bit of a let down. With all the two Cleland brothers dead, Dwight goes to the Cleland house where he needs to finish off the two Cleland redneck wives, and possibly the teenage son. I won't say what happens in the house but Will and Teddy were far more scary than the wives and we never get to learn anything about them beforehand.
Blue Ruin reminds me very much of the 1948 noir, 'Act of Violence': that's also a tale about a man consumed with rage and seeking revenge. Almost the entire movie focuses on a character stalking his prey. Here's it's the same thing—and surprisingly, 'Act of Violence' also had problems with a lack of a back story.
Jeremy Saulnier has crafted a nifty 'thriller' where often the tension is quite palpable. He knows how to get top-notch performances out of his actors and the cinematography is as professional as found in many major studio films today. Nonetheless, since he's so caught up in telling this tale about an innocent man forced into a world of violence, he loses sight of the necessity of developing his characters. His antagonists end up as typical redneck bad guys and we also learn so little about Dwight. Only Dwight's old pal Ben, manages to exude some real personality.
Perhaps a few flashbacks would have been in order to flesh everybody out. Saulnier still knows quite a lot about the thriller genre; hopefully one of the major studios will let him direct his next feature with a bigger budget. If the script is a little stronger, and with his natural talent, Saulnier could have a blockbuster on his hands.