Blue Ruin Re-Review
An act of vengeance has bloody consequences in this minimalistic and realistic revenge thriller.
“Have you ever killed someone on purpose?” – Dwight Evans, who already has.
A couple of weeks ago I reviewed A History of Violence. In that review I talked about what a good job it did of exploring how hackneyed genre premises would work in the real world. Blue Ruin does much the same, exploring what a realistic revenge thriller would look in the real world, something it does with a level of bare-bones inventiveness A History of Violence never managed.
Opening in Delaware, we meet Dwight Evans, a traumatised man living out of his car as a vagrant. When he learns that the man who killed his parents is about to be released from jail, he drives back to his home town in Virginia, determined to confront him. When he does, he kickstarts a chain reaction of violence that can only end in blood.
At the start, I compared Blue Ruin to A History of Violence and there certainly are similarities. Blue Ruin’s tone is very similar to History’s and both examine the consequence of trauma and violence in a way other films don’t. A History of Violence is much more character driven however, while Blue Ruin is much more about it’s own brand of minimalist action.
It’s thisunassuming and low-key brand of violence that’s one of the films greatest strengths. It’s stripped-back action scenes-so unlike other entries in the same genre-are so much more pulse-pounding precisely because of their small scale. One example early on is when Dwight ambushes the target of his ire in a dirty bathroom, armed with nothing but a small shiv, resulting in a desperate and unglamorous life or death struggle, the likes of which Liam Neeson would never be seen getting caught up in.
The rest of the film flows out from this one act of savagery. Despite being the unwilling instigator of much of the chaos that follow, the films does well to keep Dwight sympathetic. His main expression is one of hang-dog misery as he wanders like a ghost through the films mundane list of locations. Even as he commits greater and greater acts of violence there is an element of haplessness about him, particularly in scenes where he mishandles weapons, misses easy shots and eats out of the trash.
The film extends this sympathy to the Cleland clan, the family determined to track Dwight down. While they don’t get much in the way of characterisation, the little they have is effective, such as Teddy’s quick thinking while being held at gunpoint by Dwight, and the reasoning behind Wade’s jail time.
Their sparse but nuanced characterisation compliment Blue Ruins central theme quite nicely, namely the futility of revenge. Typical revenge thrillers don’t often cover this topic in detail, so it’s a relief to see Blue Ruin do so successfully.
The film takes this deconstructive approach to just about every element of the revenge thriller. Not only it’s realistic violence-which I’ve already mentioned-but it’s unflinchingly clear-eyed acknowledgement of revenge’s consequence. Dwight actually manages to take his revenge very early in the film but then finds himself desperately trying to stop the Cleland’s taking revenge on him by killing his sister, which results in a domino effect, leading to the films brutal and affecting finale.
Another thing this film does really well is tell it’s story visually. It’s opening moments contains an absolute bare minimum of exposition, instead letting visuals tell us everything we need to know about the haunted Dwight, and only filling us fully in with dialogue later in the film.
Possibly my favourite moment of this in the entire film is when Dwight steals back his car from the Cleland’s after they drive it to his sisters looking for him. Clearing out the boot he finds hacksaws and pliers and it becomes suddenly truly clear that the Cleland family are planning on a little more than must killing him.
Overall, Blue Ruin is a quietly devastating gut-punch of a film that turns many if the typical assumptions of a revenge thriller on it’s head without getting up on it’s high horse. A thoughtful and excellent effort by director Jeremy Saulnier.
Verdict: 4/5
- As well as this, Jeremy Saulnier also directed Green Room, another fantastic film that is worthy of a watch and that I might cover here one day.
- There are some strong supporting performances in this film, including one from Devin Ratray, who played Buzz in the first two Home Alone films.
- Dwight’s attempt to remove the arrow from his leg looks like absolute agony...
Next Week: I’ve got my eye on another documentary with an intriguing premise.
Blue Ruin is available on Netflix.
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