'Rebel Ridge' A Review

Rebel Ridge is an action/thriller about a well-meaning veteran who is antagonized by small town police a la First Blood. Terry(Aaron Pierre) is riding his bike into a small southern town in order to post bail for his cousin but is run off the road by a cop and has the bail money seized via civil forfeiture. He befriends local county employee Summer(AnnaSophia Robb) who attempts to help him but is further antagonized by the police chief Burnne(Don Johnson). The situation escalates.

Pierre gives a memorable, assured, star-making performance. Constantly cool, almost serene, he kind of plays against the action with a calmness which just serves to draw the situations in further relief as well as punctuates the actions when it does erupt. Robb brings some needed emotional depth and has good chemistry with Pierre, Johnson is delicious as the small town despot even if its something we've seen him do before. The supporting cast is all solid, James Cromwell shows up for a couple minutes, overall just a some good casting all around, a testament that no huge stars are needed to make a good marketable film.

Visually sharp, tightly paced, a thrumming/droning score all serve to set the scene and ratchet up the tension. The action, when it comes, feels real and visceral and has a messiness to it. The danger Terry is in and skirts for much of the film we feel. It is a impeccably, deliciously made film. From a craft stand point writer/director Jeremy Saulnier is totally in control. His screenwriting maybe not as taut. There are some big ideas presented- racism, policing, cash bail, civil forfeiture, addiction- and they certainly solicit discussion after but none are totally followed through on within the film, there are themes but no message. And that's mostly A-O-K as this is a very fun action film. Even if it is somewhat derivative in some ways it is refreshing how original it feels given the glut of IP. 

The biggest issue is, of course, the fact this was released straight to streaming. This would have made $75 million at the box office if not more and still seen great streaming numbers when it came to it, the fact Netflix still has no real theatrical distribution model or deal is increasingly dumb even from the most base capitalist perspective.

An intense, rhythmic, adult action thriller that makes you think but not too much.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

See It.