I don't get the appeal of Blue Ruin. Not trying to be mean, but to me this is just a movie about a guy going around shooting people, with little focus on character or story. The film looks good for the micro budget, but beyond that I don't understand what pople find so great. I'm a knowledgable film fan, love the classics, but maybe someone can explain to me what's so good about Blue Ruin, and I'll consider it. For now, I don't get it.
shareSPOILERS AHEAD...
Hey LouisSnow,
For me, I felt it was a real contrast to the usual standard revenge movie. I’m not saying every revenge movie is the same, but recent ones tend to have an action hero who comes across as invincible, has cool hand to hand fights, is more than familiar with using weapons, has a background that is relevant to his skills, and will ultimately survive no matter how many ‘henchman’ he has to take on. Taken, Man on Fire, Harry Brown, John Wick spring to mind (which I all like by the way).
I found Blue Ruin a refreshing change. It was gritty, tense and it felt ‘real’. I mean ‘real’ as in, this is how I feel the average Joe would ‘plan’ revenge. A concept I found interesting. Dwight was such an amateur; he did not have a clue what he was doing. He was full of panic and stress. He couldn’t even knife a tyre without severely injuring himself.
Not trying to be mean, but to me this is just a movie about a guy going around shooting people, with little focus on character or story
I didn’t get the feeling of a ‘guy going around shooting people’ from watching this. His first kill was with a knife and the real major use of guns was in the final scene. I also found there was enough character development and story to understand who Dwight was and why he was doing what he was doing.
I know other IMDB users have described parts as slow, but I don’t agree. I felt these parts were edge of the seat moments, giving a real tension to Dwights situation, and ultimately a great build up to the final showdown.
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Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women
I thought this movie felt very 'real'
shareI agree. This movie was very real. Dwight had a plan, but really didn't. And it reminded me a lot of Blood Simple in that it didn't need a lot of dialogue to explain the story or develop the characters. You knew a lot about Dwight before he encounters Wade. We also learn a lot about the Cleland family early on, too. It definitely is a film that portrays how I think most people would act in that situation-with anger, guilt, confusion, empathy and genuine fear. I thought this was an excellent film and not boring at all, it was the perfect length. And the buildup to the ending was suspenseful and really well done.
shareTwo points, tight narrative and moral ambiguity.
1. The story really was very straight-forward. It had some surprises and definitely was a tale that's been told countless times before. However, Blue Ruin executed this familiar story to perfect. There weren't too many holes left gaping and we all understood why the characters behaved the way they did in the context of the story. In other words, Blue Ruin told a simple story incredibly well.
2. It seemed like there were just turning points after turning points in the film. Dwight could've gone either way with his decision making multiple times in the film. Yet he always made the more "entertaining" choice. There weren't really good or bad guys in Blue Ruin. There are only bullets, dead bodies and unsettled scores.
Another good one: death sentence with kevin bacon.
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