Longtime readers may remember a movie called Blue Ruin that would go on to appear on
my “Best of 2014” list. Ever since
seeing that quiet masterpiece I have been excitedly curious about what
writer-director Jeremy Saulnier would do next, and here we are two years later
with Green Room. So does this new installment into Saulnier’s
filmography stack up to the heights of his previous film? Well, not quite, but it’s a damn close call.
A down-on-their-luck punk band known as The Ain’t Rights is
far from home without enough money to pay for gas to get there when a miracle
gig seems to open up at a bar whose main attendees appear to be neo-Nazis. The band plays their gig and are about to leave
when they discover a dead body in the green room. The management of the bar refuse to let them
leave the green room, until eventually they try to break in. The Ain’t Rights must survive the night with
no weapons on hand and no help coming.
What really struck me about this film is how Saulnier makes
the conscious choice to depict his Nazi villains as empathetic people rather
than cartoonishly evil monsters. Oh,
they’re definitely evil and guilty of committing horrible crimes in the name of
white supremacy and the preservation of their community, but every one of these
characters feel like distinct people, from the fight-dog handler who has a
genuine love for his pets, to a lieutenant who nervously has doubts about his
role in this massacre, to the soft-spoken calculation of the bar’s owner (Patrick
Stewart, who is partially cast for shock value, yet knocks the performance out of the
park). Ironically, this makes The Ain’t
Rights comparatively less interesting.
They volley the occasional humorous quips and smart introspective
dialogue, but they ultimately serve as audience surrogates for the pain and
horror of the situation. This isn’t huge
issue, but it does make the violence against them ultimately less interesting
than the villains perpetrating said violence.
And, oh boy, the violence.
This isn’t a gore-fest by any means, but the film is not afraid to show
the consequences of violent actions, and it earns its moments of bloodshed with
a tense patience that films with similar concepts can’t muster. If anything, whether for practical or
budgetary reasons, the film sometimes shies away from the violence in a way
that prevents a clear glimpse at the injuries, which tends to feel like a tease
that doesn’t quite deliver fully.
However, these are only a couple instances in a film bountiful with
harrowing encounters and cathartic kills.
I may nitpick a bit, but I really did enjoy Green Room. Though definitely not for those with weak
stomachs, it’s a worthy addition to Jeremy Saulnier’s filmography. Dark, violent, surprisingly funny at moments,
and uniquely insightful, this is a movie that shouldn’t be lost to the bowels
of indie cinema obscurity. Go see it
wherever you can find a theater playing it.
You won’t be disappointed.
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