Blue Ruin

We don't know what to make of Dwight (Blair) when we first meet him. He's homeless and making a quick getaway from a house he's broken into to take a bath when the people who live there show up. A short while later, he's picked up by the police. When approached, he starts to offer up an excuse for his actions, but is quieted by the unusually nurturing voice of the officer. She takes him back to the station, not to arrest him, but to give him an important piece of information. Wade Cleland is about to be released from prison. We don't immediately know who this is, but Dwight does and springs into action. What follows is a revenge tale during which the tables turn several times.

What strikes us immediately is how much is revealed through what Dwight does as opposed to what he says. This is not a movie given to long sections of expository dialogue. There is very little of it to be concerned with. This way, as the story unfolds it truly is giving us revelations, new insight into the world before us. For instance, as I said we don't really know who this Wade Cleland guy is, other than the fact he's obviously bad news if the cops are warning Dwight about him. Well, that and the obvious which is these two men have something to do with one another. Right away, we're put on edge. We have no clue what's going on, but we're intrigued. What kind of business does Dwight have with Wade. To be honest, I'm not sure if we've found out Dwight's name to this point, let alone discerning if he's actually the good guy. That works because as the answers to these questions come, in brief snatches of dialogue by the way, new questions arise. Tension and suspense are ratcheted up considerably. We become immersed in the story.


To help us stay in the story is a marvelous turn by Macon Blair as Dwight. His character is a man of few words. In fact, he often stumbles over the ones he uses. However, when needed, he can rather clear about what he means. Mostly, it's all about his thought process and how that translates into action and emotion. We can almost see the wheels spinning in his head as he formulates a plan and starts trying to carry it out. Best of all, though, is the fact that these plans are not perfect, nor is his execution of them. Far from it. This guy is a lot closer to Barney Fife than he is to Rambo. Still, we never take him for a joke. That's because he's a lot closer to us than Rambo, too. He's a man who has never had to do such things as he's attempting now, but finds himself in a situation where he's fighting for something bigger than himself. His end-goal is admirable, yet the path to get there is overrun with danger.

Other characters involved are only shown as necessary. Not only does the movie only introduce people germane to the plot, it only utilizes them to maximum effect. Quality is certainly favored over quantity. Again, we don't get people sitting around wringing their hands or trying to make sense of it all. Everything is in the moment and from Dwight's point of view. The whole thing becomes a tremendously minimalist affair during which we live every moment with our protagonist. Even though much of it plays out over wide stretches of territory, we cross state lines at least once, it still feels like we're stuck in a box with Dwight wherever he goes. That's actually a good thing because we become fully vested in his fate. This is the true aim of every movie and Blue Ruin accomplishes this. It does so by keeping us out of crowded cities and placing us in dustier parts of the American landscape. The calling card of legendary director Martin Scorsese is urban grit. Here, Jeremy Saulnier makes a worthy rural counterpart.