"No Speeches. You point the gun? You shoot the gun.": Blue Ruin

Revenge has always been a constant in the fictional world.  Be it in poetry or prose, theater or film, revenge seems to go back as far as humankind first began as harry apelike beasts evolving too fast for their own good.  There's a whole gamete of revenge films, but the type that seems to stick out are those with a sort of Shakespearean blood feud attached.  Throw in a bit of Greek tragic irony and a Jean-Pierre Melville style of deadpan lead acting, and you've got one hell of a film in Blue Ruin.

The premise is simple.  A young man, Dwight, learns that his parent's killer is about to be released from prison and goes after him in revenge.  Through a series of tense and suspenseful moments we learn that not only is there some seriously messed up southern style retribution coming, but that the nature of the killings are not so clear cut.  The story then becomes about family vs family, son killing son because of the transgressions of the fathers.

Through meditative cinematography and a consistent following of the primary character, the film manages to suck you into Dwight's incredibly conflicted state of mind.  His need to kill his father's killer regardless of his foresight that it can't end there is what makes it so deliciously tragic.  Pitched as a quasi Cohen Brothers style film, Blue Ruin utilizes the revenge story to analyze the bond of blood and bounds of reason.  When it comes to blood, reason tends to get thrown out the window, culminating in a deadly stand off of truly brutal proportions.

The film is remarkably well made and utilizes a cast of nearly complete unknowns and character actors, which forces us to look simply at the characters and story without the distractions that come with A-List casting.  Macon Blair's portrayal of the troubled lead is such a quiet intensity that you can practically see the fuse burning.  His pain reaches beyond the screen so viscerally that it's hard not to sympathize with Dwight's plight, but his conflict is a hugely internal one that he manages to externalize incredibly well.

You can catch this film on most streaming sources, or buy a blu ray.  Top notch indie film making!