If you want to know how bad 2013 was, take a peek at the top 250 list and find out how many of them were made on that year. As of 01/10/2013 (dd/mm/yyyy - just to clarify) this number is a staggering 0. It's too early to determine whether 2013 was a great year for the accountants of Hollywood but it sure was a dreadful (pending "Gravity") for its pantheon. On the positive note, 2013 could be the onset of a very promising director named Jeremy Saulnier and the beginning of a new genre: the multiple-twist movies. The plot seems pretty straight forward at first. Dwight (Macon Blair) is a homeless man living on the outskirts of an amusement park. One day he finds that his longtime nemesis (for reasons revealed later on in the film) is about to be released from prison. Clearly, Dwight has no intention to turn the other cheek in this case and he sets out to a successful assassination. After committing his first criminal act (and certainly not the last) Dwight moves in with his Burgois sister and her kids and finds out his brutal, bloody and terribly conspicuous revenge is left unreported because the victim's grieving family is gearing up for an act of apocalyptic vengeance. Dwight is left with no choice but to accept the challenge. Remember in the Matrix the big spoiler appears mid film? Or how the gigantic spoiler is close to the finale at "The sixth sense"? This movie is an installation of successive twists and I have to say it's a very effective way to keep the viewer glued to his seat. Saulnier's writing or casting are commendable but not revolutionary but it's the movie's pacing that distinguish him from the multitude of rookie directors with affordable cameras and editing software. You could argue as to the integrity of some characters in the movie or even question how imperative they are to the plot but when the movie is layered through and Dwight's vigilante act appears more and more like a fatal judgment error, a profound experience happens and the viewer's empathy of the main protagonist wanes down. In a highly unusual introduction at the Haifa film festival, a festival's representative stated that Saulnier could the next Tarantino if he plays his cards right. Saulnier vision of crime drama with moral issues is in fact a breath of fresh air in a stagnant Ganre and one can forgive the lackluster performance of Macon Blair or even look the other way with some character development issues. These issues don't subtract the film's appeal but they do make the comparison between the directors premature to say the least.
I for one, thought that analogy is slightly optimistic. Tarantino took the action Ganre and added complex narrative and time maneuvering (Most notably in Pulp fiction but also at Reservoir dogs). The director doesn't rock the revenge saga in such a manner but he might be a good shot of making 2014 a much better movie year than 2013 was. This movie is worth seeing and despite its modest budget, doesn't seem shoddy or awkwardly delivered. I won't risk predicting that Saulnier will be a household name in the future but I can safely foresee that although this review (thanks for reading it) may be chronologically first on IMDb, it won't be the last
I for one, thought that analogy is slightly optimistic. Tarantino took the action Ganre and added complex narrative and time maneuvering (Most notably in Pulp fiction but also at Reservoir dogs). The director doesn't rock the revenge saga in such a manner but he might be a good shot of making 2014 a much better movie year than 2013 was. This movie is worth seeing and despite its modest budget, doesn't seem shoddy or awkwardly delivered. I won't risk predicting that Saulnier will be a household name in the future but I can safely foresee that although this review (thanks for reading it) may be chronologically first on IMDb, it won't be the last