REBEL RIDGE (2024, USA, 131m, 15) ***½
Action, Crime
dist. Netflix; pr co. Bonneville Pictures / Film Science; d. Jeremy Saulnier; w. Jeremy Saulnier; pr. Neil Kopp, Jeremy Saulnier, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani; ph. David Gallego (Colour | 2.39:1); m. Brooke Blair, Will Blair; ed. Jeremy Saulnier; pd. John P. Goldsmith, Ryan Warren Smith; ad. Jeremy Woolsey.
cast: Aaron Pierre (Terry Richmond), Don Johnson (Chief Sandy Burnne), AnnaSophia Robb (Summer McBride), David Denman (Officer Evan Marston), Emory Cohen (Officer Steve Lann), Steve Zissis (Elliot), Zsane Jhe (Officer Jessica Sims), Dana Lee (Mr. Liu), James Cromwell (Judge), Oscar Gale (Skinny Guard), Reid Williams (Defendant), Daniel H. Chung (Ken), C.J. LeBlanc (Mike Simmons), Matthew Rimmer (Foreman), Brannon Cross (Construction Worker), Victor Eli Hugo (Bricklayer), Chelsea Bryan (Paramedic), Al Vicente (Corrections Officer), Terence Rosemore (Mariner), Leslie Nipkow (Victoria).
An enjoyable action thriller in which former Marine Pierre confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin’s bail. The film starts strongly as Pierre is drawn into the corrupt world of local police chief Johnson, with only Robb’s reformed addict, working in the county court, for help. Director Saulnier taps into a formula made popular in the Jack Reacher series, with Pierre’s Terry Richmond being a former marine with martial arts skills living off his own resources. It is well directed by Saulnier from his own script, with strong performances from the leads, this will no doubt please action fans. The plot is initially intriguing, but becomes more formulaic by the time we get to the final act, with the inevitable showdown.
