Blue Ruin Review: I hear its best served cold.

I went into Blue Ruin cold... and a little buzzed. I knew it was a bit of a critic darling and I knew it was about bloody revenge. If you want to avoid spoilers, and I suggest you avoid spoilers, stop reading right now and Netflix it. If you enjoyed Breaking Bad at all, I know you'll at least like it.


Still not convinced? Lemmie break down the beginning for you. We see a homeless man breaking out of a small house naked, stealing clothes off a line (who has clothes lines anymore?) as he runs back to his beach campsite. A fabulously sh**y immobile sedan with a tarp propped up out of it like a tent. He seems innocent enough, likable, even. Is he in hiding? Is this what the villain of the piece winds up becoming in the story's aftermath? Nope. He's the "hero."

A man who's parents were killed by a small time Dixie mafia family after his dad fooled around with the crime boss's wife. But really, the back story is just a jumping off point. Blue Ruin is all about atmosphere and action first with character development second. Dwight is the only 3 dimensional character, and even then, most of that is because of Macon Blaire's gloriously subtle performance. He's so quiet and sweet, yet so broken and crazy. This is the kind of movie that character work would have only bogged down. This movie is all about the stealth attacks and stakeouts. A micro budget Die Hard that gives the best of the genre a damn good run for it's money.

It's impossible to explain why the stealth scenes are so good without absolutely ruining them. Blue Ruining them. So here's the deal: Indie atmosphere good. Acting good. Action good. Movie good.

Give it a shot.