Dave's Fiction Warehouse

In which I bloviate about books, TV, movies, politics and other stuff.

  • Books
  • Movies
  • TV
  • politics
  • Other Stuff
  • thatfuckingtrump

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Powered by Genesis

‘Blue Ruin’ rules

January 3, 2015 by Dave Knadler

blue ruin movie review

A little lemon juice will take that right out.

Just when you conclude that the Netflix movie catalog really is a steaming pile of two-star manure, you stumble across a gem. That’s what I discovered tonight in “Blue Ruin,” a taut, lean revenge thriller that defies everything you might expect from this sort of film.

Free on Netflix.

Free on Netflix.

For starters, it stars nobody you’ve ever heard of, and the protagonist is about as far from Liam Neeson as you can get. The character, Dwight Evans, is harmless and homeless and haunted by the death of his parents years before. He lives in his old Pontiac by the beach and Dumpster-dives for his meals. Then he gets word from a kindly policewoman that the guy convicted of killing Dwight’s parents is about to be released from prison.

I’ll stop there, except to note that Dwight has zero skills as an assassin. In large part, that’s what drives the suspense: Unlike Charles Bronson, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He never has quite the right weapon for the situation. Things get messy, and then messier, and finally completely out of control. Through all of it, he retains a certain decency that only deepens his disadvantage.

It’s a violent movie, so there’s that. But even if that kind of thing bothers you, it’s worth sitting through just to see Eve Plumb in a small role that should banish forever any fond recollections about Jan Brady. Dave Bob calls it the best movie he’s seen this year! Seriously, check it out.

More along these lines:

  • harry potter and hermione deathly hallows part 1A little too much magic
  • Mrs. Palin will be right backMrs. Palin will be right back
  • Netflix noir from down under
  • Jeremy Renner suits upA look at what’s new on DVD
  • The last person to see ‘Lives of Others"The last person to see ‘Lives of Others"

Filed Under: Movies, netflix

About Dave Knadler

Obscure writer. Lazy photographer. Bashful guitarist. Perhaps too fond of wine. Tireless nemesis of New York Times crosswords, Wordle, Semantle and all other puzzles du jour.

Comments

  1. Erin says

    January 4, 2015 at 12:40 am

    Heading off to watch. 🙂

    • Dave Knadler says

      January 4, 2015 at 8:27 am

      Let me know what you think!

Recent posts

  • We don’t need no stinking followers
  • This could be
    the last time
  • Still life with dicks
  • Not throwing away
    my shot
  • February fugue

Recent comments

  • Paul Silverman on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers

FInd something

send dave cash

The obligatory PayPal donation button. Go ahead: Make my day.