Movie Review - Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin (2014)

Starring Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, and Eve Plumb

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

When we first encounter Dwight (Macon Blair), he's living out of his run-down car near a beach in Delaware.  Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's film Blue Ruin makes us think that Dwight is trouble as he sneaks into folks' vacation homes in order to bathe, taking food and clothes to sustain himself.  Soon, however, we discover that Dwight is simply coping with the fact that his father and mother were heinously shot down several years prior.  When Dwight hears news that his parents' killer is being released from prison, he sets out on a mission to seek vengeance on the killer setting off a war between two families who have both dealt with their share of heartbreak.

This low budget revenge flick is surprisingly taut and well-acted by a cast of unknowns (although Jan Brady herself Eve Plumb makes a quick appearance in an important role).  Macon Blair's performance is certainly at the center as his meek and troubled Dwight is pressed with mustering up the courage to do what he feels is right.  While we understand his desire to enact revenge, Blue Ruin never paints Dwight as morally justified.  His vengeance may be what he desires, but it makes him a criminal nevertheless.  This moral dichotomy at the film's center makes Blue Ruin an interesting revenge picture that's worth a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B