Rebel Ridge

Plot

Cycling through a small Louisianan town, Terry – a marine vet is knocked to the ground by police. He is holding $36k, which he is planning on using to bail out his cousin from jail, and start a new life with him. The police seize the money in what they call a ‘civil forfeiture’

When he finds that no one in town will listen to him, bar the trainee law clerk Summer, a game of cat and mouse begins with Terry, and the towns chief of police, Burnne.

Direction

This is the first film of Jeremy Saulnier’s I’ve watched, and I quite liked his style.

There is solid choreography within the small town, as well as camera placements in and around cars. It seems as though a tight budget was used effectively.

Cast/Characters

Aaron Pierre plays Terry, who portrays the cool calm and collected, as well as physically intimidating at the drop of a hat. I found his American accent flawless, considering he is a native Brit. His reserved nature makes sense due to his characters training within the army.

AnnaSophia Robb plays Summer, who becomes Terry’s only(?) true ally within the whole film. Her very obviously fake Southern accent does come on a little thick and heavy, but this is a very low complaint.

Don Johnson seemed like he was having a lot of fun playing Chief Burnne. The back and forth between himself and Terry is quite a lot of fun to watch.

Other cast members are David Denman as Marston, Emory Cohen as Lann, Zsane Jhe as Sims and James Cromwell as the Judge.

Breakdown

This is actually better than it reads on paper, and I feel that is all down to the performance of the leads.

The script does have some slightly confusing dialogue, especially when it comes to the laws broken, the paperwork needed etc – and some knowledge of the law (or the American judiciary system) will better serve those going in .

The tension between Terry and the cops doesn’t really seem to follow the traditional three act breakdown, rather it is quite constant. There are times you think that one of the conflicts is going to continue for some time (Terry ‘taking the precinct hostage’) but instead it carries over to the next conflict soon after. These do go on for some time, and at a little over two hours, it is a little overlong, but I was engaged right to the end.

At times it felt like it was going to have a ‘First Blood’ feel to it (cops pick the wrong guy/he’s a former army/marine vet). But the film finds its own format, and stands on its own.

The character of Summer is written well, especially the revelation of her backstory (former drug addict who lost her child in a custody battle), which is why she is so eager to help Terry. This drops her into his fight with the police (them drugging her in her sleep).

There are also some realistic consequences that occur during the film, such as the *** spoiler *** death of Terry’s cousin Mike, which Terry cannot let go.

I particularly enjoyed the revelation of Summer’s ‘source’ within the police station, who she nicknames Serpico. The red herring reveal of who Serpico actually is, is quite surprising.

I quite liked the choreography, and the action of the brutal but non lethal final ‘shoot out’ but did not care for the rather abrupt ending. It also leaves the fates of many characters unresolved, and with a 2hr + runtime, this should not have happened.

The “techy” score that plays under all the drama and tension is solid. Good work to Brook and Will Blair who composed.

Overall

I was pleasantly surprised by this. If you’re looking for a solid action film, I would recommend this. This should have been a 4, but it ran too long, and ended too abruptly.

3.5/5