September 24, 2018
Written by: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves
Budget: $1,066,000
Quote: "You know what's awful? Just 'cause my dad loved your mom... we all end up dead."
Trivia: At one time Benny mentions a "Duce" who got hit by a train. This is a reference to "El Duce", lead-singer of punk-Hardcore band "the Mentors", who claimed Courtney Love offered him $50,000 to kill Kurt Cobain. He appeared in Nick Broomfield's "Kurt and Courtney" documentary. He died under mysterious circumstances after he made these claims.
A week ago I watched and wrote about Green Room, an incredibly violent survival/revenge film that I am completely in love with. It was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier who also wrote/directed Murder Party, a movie I watched a few years ago (and thought it was just okay). After posted about Green Room, someone online recommended another of his films, Blue Ruin saying that it was as good as Green Room and much more realistic. The online recommender (sorry, I forgot who) was absolutely correct. Saulnier takes a realistic approach to the revenge film. It is like what would happen if some shlub like me tried to avenge someone; an increasing series of poor mistakes. Looking back at his three movies, Saulnier refers to them at the "inept trilogy," where in each film people are put into situations that they are completely unprepared for. Ineptitude is the perfect word to describe the main character of Blue Ruin, Dwight (Macon Blair). Dwight is unprepared and unqualified for the revenge business.
Dwight spends his days sifting through garbage cans for food, lives in his car, and breaks into people's houses to take showers. One day he gets news that Wade Cleland, the guy who killed his parents, is getting let out of prison early. This leads Dwight to travel to his hometown in order to kill Wade and in a rushed and not well thought out moment, Dwight stabs Wade in the neck while he's in the bathroom of a restaurant the Clelands own. Unfortunately, Dwight drops his keys neck to the dead body and is forced to steal a limo in order to escape. Next, he stops by his sister's house to warn her and her two children to leave because the Clelands might want to retaliate and that night, they show up at the house. Dwight is able to hit one with his car and lock him in the trunk but gets shot with an arrow in the leg. After a failed attempt to perform surgery on himself he passes out at the hospital, awakens healed, and bails before anyone has a chance to ask questions. Now Dwight has to figure out what to do with the guy in his trunk so he visits a friend who gives him some guns and the friend kills the guy in the trunk after he overpowers Dwight. We also learn that the guy Dwight killed in the beginning was not the one who killed his parents, but was instead the guy's father who did it as an act of revenge for Dwight's father sleeping with the guy's mother. The final scene has Dwight holed up at the Cleland's house in a tense scene. I'm not going to spoil the ending here other than just to say it is a really great scene and provides the perfect ending (I'll talk about the ending at the end of this discussion).
What really makes this film as incredible as it is is Macon Blair's acting. He does an incredible job playing a character who is kind and innocent but capable of extreme violent. Throughout the film, there are these long close shots of Dwight's face where we can see the panic an overwhelming sense of dread that his character is experiencing. The filmmakers also do this great trick where the audio begins to fade to show Dwight's panic and inability to think outside of his own despair. I cannot think of anything worse than that anxious feeling that eventually you are going to get caught and that will be the end. Whether it is the Clelands or the cops, Dwight's struggle is futile from the start and he knows it. Dwight's anxieties are mirrored in the viewing experience. Throughout the film (like in Green Room), I kept having to ask myself, "how the heck is he going to get out of this?!"
What also makes the film effective is the realism that Saulnier attempts to create in this film. The original murder is bloody but realistic. It is gritty and unpleasant, like a murder would be. The series of mistakes that Dwight makes also cause tension. As a deeply flawed character, he could be killed at any moment. Also, Saulnier takes significant time at the beginning of the film to illustrate how difficult a revenge act logistically would be for someone like Dwight. This is too often glossed over in other revenge films. In order to obtain a gun, Dwight must steal one, but unable to break the gun's lock he must throw it away. Then there is the issues of gas money, etc. Revenge must be a difficult business for anyone, but especially for the homeless. Also, in the middle of the movie, Dwight comes increasingly close to dying himself while we helplessly yell at the screen, "go see a doctor!"
SPOILERS: Do Not Read If You Don't Want The Ending Spoiled.
Saulnier is a master at ratcheting up tension in his films. The final scenes where Dwight goes to the Cleland house is a perfect example. Nobody is home so Dwight sets up shop at their home, first removing all their guns (he finds at least a dozen), leaving a voice message warning on their answering machine, and finally pissing on the grave of their grand father. Dwight actually spends two nights at the Cleland house during which the knowledge that they might come home at any time continues to build the tension. When they finally do arrive and listen to the answering machine, we are reminded of advice the Dwight received earlier in the film, "Don't give any speeches, just do what you have to do." Of course, Dwight gives a big speech and because of this he is killed by the youngest Cleland. Dwight ends up killing the brother, sister, and mother though. A song with the appropriate lyric "no regret" plays after the final scene emphasizing Dwight's feelings. Despite the dread, the pointlessness of the violence, and the futility of his actions, I don't believe Dwight would have done anything different if he'd had the chance.
After watching the movie, I have to agree with the person who recommended it, this is one of the most realistic revenge movies I have seen. Saulnier is a master of his craft, and here's to hoping we get a fourth installment in the "inept quadrilogy."
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