Review: ‘Blue Ruin’

The first time I saw “Blue Ruin,” I had a one word response:

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

See, I even went back and found it:

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. #BlueRuin

— Chris Crespo (@IAmChrisCrespo) September 20, 2014

And now that I have watched “Blue Ruin” a second time, my reaction is still the same. This movie is so damn good in so many ways it is almost unfair. When a film shows up like this, like a ferocious shotgun blast of smart intensity, it is impossible not to take notice. Who needs huge CG set pieces, hundreds of millions of dollars and an overly long and complicated screenplay to make a memorable movie? Not writer/director Jeremy Saulnier apparently, because this is a super low budget yet very simply told yet incredibly well made and awesome movie, and should be viewed by anyone who wants to make a movie but fear they don’t have the resources to make a compelling film. Guess what, people, it can be done. It WAS done. It is called “Blue Ruin.”

The movie starts calmly and quietly. We meet Dwight (Macon Blair), an apparently homeless loner who breaks into people’s houses to use their bathrooms and gets his food out of dumpsters and lives out of his car. His blue car. One morning he is informed by the local police, who seem to know him and try to help him out a little, that the person who murdered his parents twenty years prior was set to be released from prison thanks to a plea deal from all those years ago. Dwight then makes himself some dinner, goes to sleep, wakes up and washes himself in the ocean, and then seems to set his mind to righting some wrongs. He gets in his car and sets out to kill this man getting out of prison.

And this decision sets off a chain of events that is both surprising and inevitable. As the story progresses Dwight gets himself into more and more shit, and the stakes keeps getting higher and higher. And with each decision that is made, there are repercussions and consequences, which are all dealt with within the story. Nothing gets skipped over. We follow Dwight each step of the way through this little journey of vengeance and it is so incredibly tense. Even when he ends up spending around 24-36 hours inside someone’s house just waiting for them to come home, it is TENSE AS FUCK because by that point in the story we know what needs to be done, but we aren’t sure if he wants to do it, or if he even can.

“Blue Ruin” takes its time and it revels in the consequences and mistakes from Dwight’s decisions, and even some of the bad dumb luck that falls upon him here and there. Some things go wrong at the worst moments possible, and sometimes things will go Dwight’s way out of luck, and much of this is played like a dark comedy, like when Dwight’s gun-loving friend chastises him for missing a target from two yards away right after he blows some dude’s face off from who knows how far away. Oh god, which reminds me of the incredible effects work in this film. Beware those who don’t like seeing blood in a movie, cause this one has a bunch of the red stuff, and no CG blood sprays or digital trickery. Just some good old fashioned practical effects that look DAMN impressive, and as such, very effective in making me want to squirm and be like “Oooh, no, that’s not right.” Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if the face getting snipered off effect had a little digital help, but otherwise nope, this is a very tangible, sweaty, dirty, bloody movie.

There is one little knock I should point out, the one thing that kind of drew me out just a little, and that is how many of the family members of Dwight’s revenge target come across as stereotypical Southern movie villains, totally ugly and buffoonish gun nuts, missing teeth, bad hair, horrible accents, and so on. It probably feels so weird to see these characters show up as so cartoony when Dwight and the rest of this movie comes across as so grounded and real.

Really the whole movie lives and dies with Dwight, so it is fortunate for everyone involved that this Macon Blair fella just killed it. He conveys this extreme sadness and loneliness with some simple looks on his face, he has sad eyes he puts to work, and he definitely comes across as a guy totally lost in this world, someone suffering eternally because of the loss of important people in his life. And then that makes it all the more incredible when he embarks on a violent mission, and makes us wonder if this sad little guy can pull this shit off and how far he can hope to make it without either getting himself killed, arrested or something even worse.

I love this movie. It is simple and anyone can make some complicated bullshit, but it takes skill to make something so simple be so compelling, and “Blue Ruin” shows that these folks have the chops for sure. Just see this movie for yourself, it is so worth it.