Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Messing with the Man: Review of Rebel Ridge
★★★☆☆
By Geoff Carter
The revenge story is one of the oldest narratives out there. From vintage tales like Hamlet, Medea, Julius Caesar, A Cask of Amontillado to more modern iterations like Carrie, Dune, and The Revenant, the revenge story also seems to resonate with audiences. Add to that elements of an underdog and outlaw forced to take on the law narratives and you—inevitably—end up with a successful movie.
Rebel Ridge is about a man, Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) whose family is wronged by a small-town police force. His cousin is unlawfully arrested and then he is rousted by the local cops. Richmond (surprise) is a former Marine Corps martial arts instructor whose cousin has been arrested by the Shelby Springs, Louisiana police department (small Southern police force, another surprise).
Richmond is cycling to Shelby Springs to bail out his cousin Mike (CJ LeBlanc) for a misdemeanor traffic stop. Officers Evan Marston (David Denman) and Steve Lann (Emory Cohen) ram his bike and proceed to roust Richmond, who refuses to be intimidated. He is courteous and reasonable but will not stand down. The officers search his backpack and discover $38,000 in cash which they confiscate, citing civil forfeiture, a law designed to restrict drug trafficking.
Needing $10,000 to bail out his cousin, Terry goes to the police station to file a complaint and is confronted by the arresting officers as well as Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson). He is informed by court clerk Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb) about the civil forfeiture law and irregularities within the department. Desperate to bail out Mike before he goes to prison—where his life is in danger for testifying against a gangster, Terry strikes up a bargain with Burnne: he’ll take $10,000 for bail and let the cops keep the rest.
The next morning, Burnne reneges on the agreement, sending Mike to state prison. Terry subdues Lann and Marston and forces Burnne to hand over his $10,000, which he posts for Mike’s bond before he is arrested. After Mike is stabbed to death in prison, Burnne pays Terry the remainder of his money if he doesn’t press charges. Terry agrees and leaves town.
After he gets a call from Summer stating she has been railroaded by Chief Burnne, Terry returns to Shelby Springs to help her out. He is stopped by Lann and Terry for reentering the city limits and is finally forced to take the law into his own hands (yet another surprise). There are a few more twists and turns before the plot resolves into its not unexpected conclusion.
The strength—and liability—of a film like Rebel Ridge (depending on what kind of cinematic experience you’re looking for) is that it is eminently predictable. We’ve seen variants of this movie since feature films became a thing: Rambo, Nevada Smith, and Death Wish are only the tip of the iceberg, so you always know what you’re getting. The drawback is of course that you always know what you’re getting.
Even a film like Rebel Ridge, which is well-acted, well-directed, well-written and well-edited gets a little old. Terry is a very likable character, but he is sort of a mash-up of Charles Bronson and Richard Roundtree—the tight-lipped ultra-cool unflappable hero (who happens to be quite understated). It’s a given that this guy has to have extraordinary weapons or martial arts that are only revealed partway through the plot. He never speaks of them. That’s part of the code (his code and the genre code).
A nice variation of this trope is the character of Summer, a recovering addict who is working her way through law school and working to regain custody of her daugher. This is in itself a bit of a character cliché, but in screenwriter and director Jeremy Saulnier’s hands, she becomes a three-dimensional character. AnnaSophia Robb’s performance adds a brittle tenderness to the character, something that is more often than not missing in this genre.
In fact, as a whole, this film transcends its genre, particularly in the beginning, when Richmond is run off the road on his bicycle for no apparent reason. The police stop seems like a typical redneck roust until the police confiscate the money under civil forfeiture and it is revealed that this is an ongoing police practice—as it is in real life—in some cases. Terry’s handling of the stop and his proposed solution to the confiscation, some might say theft, of his money, is masterful and reveals his character in striking detail.
Don Johnson’s Chief Burnne is no redneck dummy. He has established a well-oiled racket that cannot be touched, and he knows it. What distinguishes this chief from so many other southern sheriff types is a diplomatic demeanor hiding a mile-wide sadistic streak. Johnson uses just the right degree of arrogance, smarminess, meanness, and intelligence. He seems all too realistic.
All in all, Rebel Ridge is a great watch and is a lot like eating your favorite meal. You know what you’re getting, and you got it in the first place because you like it. Beyond that, Rebel Ridge (particularly its first half) is a smart, snappy, and well-written crime drama. It has compelling characters, a good story, and great action. So, if you’re ready to settle in for something familiar but with a bit of an upgrade, watch this movie.
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