'Blue Ruin' Review

Wow! An original movie?

'Blue Ruin' is an independent film from an unknown director and starring an unknown actor. The movie revolves around a homeless character by the name of Dwight (Macon Blair). When we are introduced to him he is sneaking into people's houses to take baths, ravaging for food in dumpsters and sleeping in his car: The "Blue Ruin".

Our broken lead is once found by a female police officer who lets him know that an old family enemy has been set free from the confines of prison. After receiving the information Dwight gathers what little resources he has to take revenge. But things don't go smoothly. Dwight must find a way to end a full scale war between two families before it's too late.

In many ways 'Blue Ruin' is a traditional revenge story. But the way director, Jeremy Saulnier, handles it is quite innovative. What happens after the revenge is taken? That's the question that the film poses. When one man goes down, another man comes in to avenge. It's a continuous cycle, and our lead is forced to take on each of these antagonists. The violence is unrelenting. While many films nowadays are afraid to showcase realistic violence, 'Blue Ruin' embraces it fully. Whether it's a shiv to the side of someone's head, or trying to tear out an arrow embedded in one's knee, the camera is not shy. It's unrelenting and grotesque. But it all serves a purpose. Without it, the story wouldn't have the same impact.

As far as performances go, 'Blue Ruin' packs in quite a powerful punch with its lead, Dwight. Newcomer, Macon Blair, gives a very honest and sympathetic performance as a man who is forced to deal with the grisly results of his actions. Dwight is not a strong, athletic or young character. He's in his mid thirties, looks a bit dweeby and can barely hold his own in a fight, unless he sneaks on someone. Seeing his progression from poor loser to violent protector is really a joy and surprisingly full of depth for a film running at only an hour and a half.

Visually, the movie is extremely solid. The blood pops against the dark grey/green bathrooms, and the silhouettes are extremely lovely against the orange sky. But it's not polished. It follows the tradition of seventies cinema verite films in which the movies were not meant to look pretty. It's dirty and rusty, but that's exactly what it's going for.

On one hand, 'Blue Ruin' is a great homage to Coen Brother films like 'Blood Simple' or 'No Country For Old Men'. In some ways it follows the same template as more modern revenge films, such as Jeff Nichol's 2007 debut film, 'Shotgun Stories' or last year's 'Out of the Furnace'. And while both of those films are built upon interesting foundations, there are too many faults for them to be  truly recommend. But this is where 'Blue Ruin' succeeds. It starts out with a bang, and just keeps going from there, rather than falling short in its finale. While some of the dialogue is a bit dodgy and one or two small performances are a bit underwhelming, the overall package is a violent, low budget stroke of genius.

Grade:A-

Review by: Josh McCormack