Blue Ruin – My Review

I tend to despise revenge films. This one is different enough to avoid pissing me off. Far from the glorious white male killer, this guy is as inept as Clouseau. He’s so incompetent, in fact, that his over the top haplessness may annoy audiences.

This tiny US film surprised them at Cannes. Filmed by unknowns, it’s the American Dream story, suddenly striking fame and glory. An unexpected indie hit, they took a simple genre story and gave it that added dimension to twist it into something special.

Blue Ruin concerns a wrecked drifter whose parents had been murdered. The alleged murderer is released from prison, and a decision is made to hunt him down. With family ties and a family feud situation, the stakes are raised. Innocent lives hang in the balance, as the two clans declare war on each other.

For an extremely low-budget effort, this was beautifully shot and tense.