Bottom Line
I was channel surfing on Friday night and unbelievably couldn’t seem to find anything good to watch, until I stumbled upon this diamond in the rough on Netflix — “Rebel Ridge”. Wow, I was in for a treat.
Source: Netflix on YouTube
A former Marine grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with the local police chief. He didn’t start this fight, but he will finish it. Rebel Ridge, the next film by Jeremy Saulnier, comes to Netflix September 6th.
The film is written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier and stars Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, and AnnaSophia Webb. Saulnier takes the essence of “Rambo First Blood” and the character of “Jack Reacher” from the “Reacher” series of books and perhaps a little of the “Walking Tall” films and combines them to create “Rebel Ridge”. I don’t think I knew who Aaron Pierre was although he looked familiar. The guy has got not just the physique for this character of former Marine Terry Richmond but the gravitas and presence. Keep an eye on this guy.
Source: IMDB
A graduate of the prestigious LAMDA in London, Aaron Pierre is currently recording a lead role as Mufasa in Barry Jenkins' highly anticipated Lion King prequel for Disney. He played Caesar in Barry Jenkins' award-winning limited series The Underground Railroad for Amazon and also starred in M. Night Shyamalan's film Old, in which he played a rapper and for which he wrote and performed a song. Pierre was nominated for the 2018 Ian Charleson Award for his professional stage debut as Cassio in Othello, opposite Mark Rylance, at Shakespeare's Globe.
Don Johnson has definitely matured as an actor and we can see it in this smart, cocky and corrupt Police Chief Sandy Burnne. He and his team are so devious and devlish that you will relish their comeuppance when it happens.
I had never heard the acronym “MCMAP” before seeing this film and I won’t describe it here, so as not to provide any spoilers. But, all I can say is WOW. Sign me up.
The action in this film looks authentic, gritty and just brutal. Nice. You get your money’s worth. And the plot at first seems confusing but all makes more and more sense as the film unfolds.
This film could have been released in the theatre and would probably have done quite well. I hope we see more of Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond in future films but they have to be written and directed by Saulnier.
Rating
****1/2 (out of five stars)