Blue Ruin movie review & film summary (2014)

But then what? Dwight clearly hasn’t thought through the possible fallout of his actions, especially since it turns out he has left behind evidence that clearly identifies him. After breaking into another home to make himself innocuously clean-shaven and presentable in a stolen dress shirt and khaki slacks, he goes to see his estranged sister and mother of two.

During their reunion, he realizes that the surviving members of the Cleland clan have yet to inform the police of Will’s murder since there has been nothing on the local news. That can mean only one thing: They are taking justice into their hands. And Dwight, after telling his sibling to hide out elsewhere, plans to fight back.

Without spoiling too much of what happens next, Saulnier makes some interesting choices that reveal he has more on his mind than just indulging in mindless mayhem with spurts of dark comedy. It is not by happenstance that Dwight spends the last hour of the movie looking as if he is auditioning for "The Office." He is no longer an aimless, misfit vagrant. He is one of us.

Then there is the ease with which Dwight figures out where to finally get his hands on some firearms. He tracks down an old high-school buddy, the amiably beefy Ben (Devin Ratray, best known as bully Buzz in "Home Alone," who brings a bit of droll good ol’ boy sanity to the story before all hell breaks loose). Turns out this metal-head keeps an impressive arsenal on hand. Naturally, the Clelands boast as much if not more ammunition at the ready—including a crossbow.

Not unlike America, the film is as obsessed with such deadly hardware as it is repulsed by it, and Saulnier—who clearly put a lot of artistic thought into how his characters are mortally wounded—seems to be of both minds. Which keeps "Blue Ruin" from becoming a preachy turnoff, especially as it relies on such reliable tension-ratcheting devices as the body that goes thump in the car trunk and a living-room light on a timer that delivers a jolt when it clicks on. From camera angles—especially one unsettlingly spooky shot as Dwight’s car heads into a cloud of fog in a remote mountain region—to the unnerving soundtrack, this guy knows how to build a nail-biter.

Two final thoughts on the choices made by a filmmaker who is on the right path to a long career: I kind of love it that Eve Plumb—Jan, the resentful middle child on "The Brady Bunch"—is one of the Clelands. And there is one line that is a true keeper. After Dwight flinches while gathering the remains of a body, Ben solemnly states: “That’s what bullets do.” And that is the truth.