.... astonishingly comes from an almost-unknown director starring almost-unknown actors .... AND IS IN COLOR TO BOOT. FILM NOIRE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD! Jeremy Saulnier, the writer and director, essentially is putting on a film clinic here, and it is a dandy. For those of us who may, over time, have forgotten that a great many diverse elements go into a feature film, and that it is entirely possibly produce spellbinding entertainment by merely getting SOME of these elements right, not necessarily all of them at once.
In Blue Ruin, leaving aside the odd storyline (something about an illicit love affair which goes horribly, horribly, wrong and develops consequences); and leaving aside the lack of "Hollywood" star power (which, in truth, you will not miss at all), this film soars to the heights based on 3 simple things: a script so tight that it squeaks, in fact there is barely any dialog at all in the first 20 minutes but your eyes will be glued to the screen nonetheless; cinematography that captures the slightest nuance, from the blinking light of an answering machine to a hi-velocity long-distance bullet smashing a skull just a second after you hear the shot; and direction so perfect (as I said) that, if the credits said "Coen Brothers," you would have no trouble believing it. (Lead Macon Blair does an AMAZING job playing a wimp who seemingly finds his inner Jason Bourne, and he even LOOKS like Javier Bardem's lost Anglo younger brother -- how weird is that?) This film is a treat to be savored. If Hollywood ever woke up and smelled the coffee -- realized that quality films could be done LIKE THIS without the formulaic garbage, for example, of a TAKEN 2 -- history might well record that BLUE RUIN was the beginning of a trend, perhaps even the "nextgen" of film-making, and heralded many more quality productions like it that were to come. One can always hope...
In Blue Ruin, leaving aside the odd storyline (something about an illicit love affair which goes horribly, horribly, wrong and develops consequences); and leaving aside the lack of "Hollywood" star power (which, in truth, you will not miss at all), this film soars to the heights based on 3 simple things: a script so tight that it squeaks, in fact there is barely any dialog at all in the first 20 minutes but your eyes will be glued to the screen nonetheless; cinematography that captures the slightest nuance, from the blinking light of an answering machine to a hi-velocity long-distance bullet smashing a skull just a second after you hear the shot; and direction so perfect (as I said) that, if the credits said "Coen Brothers," you would have no trouble believing it. (Lead Macon Blair does an AMAZING job playing a wimp who seemingly finds his inner Jason Bourne, and he even LOOKS like Javier Bardem's lost Anglo younger brother -- how weird is that?) This film is a treat to be savored. If Hollywood ever woke up and smelled the coffee -- realized that quality films could be done LIKE THIS without the formulaic garbage, for example, of a TAKEN 2 -- history might well record that BLUE RUIN was the beginning of a trend, perhaps even the "nextgen" of film-making, and heralded many more quality productions like it that were to come. One can always hope...