Blue Ruin (2013)

Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer(s): Saulnier
Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, and Kevin Kolack

A viewing of Jeremy Saulnier's breakthrough feature, Blue Ruin, was preceded a couple of days earlier by my second viewing of Dead Man’s Shoes; both films, while focusing on aspects of revenge, couldn’t be any more different in the way they go about it. Maybe that’s part of the problem for me, because while the rewatching of Dead Man’s Shoes only seconded what I believed the first time--namely, that it’s a damn near flawless revenge flick—a first viewing of Blue Ruin proved to be rather disappointing. And while comparing movies in a review is no doubt frowned upon, if for no other reason than it disregards one of its own merits, I’m going to do it anyway, simply because I feel the comparisons are important in explaining why I feel the way I feel about this film.

Now, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the way that Blue Ruin goes about laying down its story: whereas Dead Man’s Shoes becomes more of a slasher film, where the success of the vengeful brother is never in doubt, Macon Blair’s Dwight is a nervous everyman whose obsession with righting a wrong drives him to excessive lengths. His vulnerability adds a layer of depth that’s missing from the Taken’s and even the Dead Man’s Shoes of the world; it actually ends up being the film’s greatest asset.

Dwight is a nomad, sleeping out of his car, when he is approached by a police officer and taken into an interrogation room. But he is not in trouble; she is merely informing him that the man responsible for killing his parents, a Wade Cleland, is being released from prison, and felt that he should be in a stable, safe place when he heard the news. It seems revenge has never left his mind, and before we know it, he is following the newly-released prisoner to a club. There, he waits in the restroom for his chance to strike—and after a brief struggle, he emerges victorious.

He becomes suspicious when there is no news coverage of the murder: Everyone close to either person knows that it was Dwight who did it, because he has been motivated to kill Wade ever since he went to prison, for reasons that will only gradually become obvious as we move forward. He figures that associates of Wade will most certainly be coming after him, or members of his family, to even the score. One night, while Dwight is staying at his sister’s house (she has fled with her children), members of the Cleland clan come a-knockin’ on the door. He manages to injure one and escape, but not without taking some damage of his own—an arrow to the leg.

He eventually goes to a hospital to have it treated (after an agonizing scene in which he attempts to fix it himself), and after releasing himself, tracks down an old high school friend, Ben. Ben actually ended up being far and away my favorite character; a tried-and-true, loyal friend who is willing to help Dwight in any way that he can, without so much as a question. So great is his drive to help Dwight, that it takes Dwight stealing his car battery to prevent Ben from following him and putting his life on the line, over a situation that doesn’t involve him in the least. (Fun fact: Devin Ratray, who plays Ben, was Buzz McCallister in the first two Home Alone movies; he proves he has matured as an actor, as he delivers a solid performance as a likeable guy.)

This is where the writing hits its peak: the relationship between Dwight and Ben feels completely natural and organic. Just from watching the two men interact with each other, you can feel the strength of their bond. Granted, a lot of this falls on the actors for bringing the words to life, but the writing is fluid and convincing, and when paired with the performances, this easily became my favorite part of the film.

Up until now, things have seemed pretty straightforward, but that is not necessarily the case: Blue Ruin slowly reveals gradual twists and revelations along the way, that keep both Dwight, and the viewer, on their toes. One of them is something that I’ve always expected to see in a revenge film, but never have. It didn’t quite have the resonance for me that it could have if, say, it were the main twist, but I applaud the filmmakers for trying something new to try to invigorate the crowded revenge subgenre. (I will not reveal specifics on what it is, because part of the appeal is discovering it on your own.)

In the end, though, I must confess that Blue Ruin just didn’t do a whole lot for me. The twists and turns don’t really, in my opinion, amount to all that much, and when all was said and done, they felt like smoke and mirrors, masking a story that's pretty conventional to begin with. A couple of the points and ideas that it presents, namely that the nature of vengeance is ultimately pointless, and how one person’s decision can destroy so many others, are certainly topics worth exploring; I just felt its structure was rather lackluster and unrewarding, as it slowly rolled its way to its expected destination.

Despite this, there’s no doubt that there’s loads of talent both in front of, and behind the camera, and I’ll still be keeping an eye on Saulnier’s career (Green Room, which was his follow-up to this, became a small hit and hit almost all of the notes for me that this one missed). This film seems to have been a hit with critics (no surprises there), and word-of-mouth seems to be creating additional buzz. So while I found Blue Ruin to be mostly dry and unengaging, it’s clearly from the mind of a promising filmmaker.

RECAP: There are occasionally moments of effectiveness, but I found Blue Ruin to be a little too dry and unengaging for my tastes. The plot builds slowly, with minor revelations gradually being revealed, but once the puzzle is all put together, there wasn't enough there to justify Dwight's behavior. Part of that, that revenge is pointless and unsatisfactory for a myriad of reasons, is no doubt the point, but considering I had to use up my own personal time to follow along with the story, his waste of time also became mine. Dwight is the perfect antithesis of the standard revenge-fueled protagonist--nervous and all-too-human, rather than an invincible superhero—which leads to some tension in a couple of his confrontations, but it all just feels too linear, and conventional, to leave any sort of lasting impression. I hope I don’t sound too hard on it, though, because writer/director Jeremy Saulnier clearly has ambition and talent, and even though I was disappointed with this, I’m still eagerly looking forward to his future releases.

RATING: 5/10

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