Blue Ruin

Decent, but somewhat tepid and simple revenge flick. Blue Ruin is very much a film of its time, bringing a slight indie/arthouse aesthetic to an otherwise straightforward genre premise. Sometimes this juxtaposition of styles can strengthen each other, most of the time they just cause unnecessary friction. The latter seems to be the case here.

Dwight saw his parents brutally murdered. The killer was apprehended and sent to jail, but Dwight never really forgave him. When years later Dwight hears his parents' murderer is released before his sentence is completed, he plans a revenge mission. Dwight will not only have to become a killer himself, but he also has to accept that he'll be continuing the cycle of hate and violence.

Conversation is slight and the film is more show than tell. That's usually a good thing, but the presentation felt a little too bland and sloppy to pull that off effectively. There are some decent twists and the performances aren't bad either, there just wasn't quite enough here to turn this into a riveting, gritty yet grounded revenge flick, which was clearly the goal.