It’s a classic cinema red flag.
Anytime a production is defined as a “troubled” one, it more often than not leads to troubled storytelling.
That’s especially true when those production woes are as significant as the need to recast the lead role midstream and the subsequent reshooting of whole scenes, as with Netflix’s Louisiana-shot thriller “Rebel Ridge.”
Add the disruption of a global pandemic on top of it all, as well as a release delayed by years, and “troubled” just might be the best one could hope for.
That “Rebel Ridge” even made it to the finish line is something of a marvel. That it works as well as it does – as a brisk and muscular old-school action-thriller – is a minor miracle.
Feel that? The cool, crisp autumnal air, ushering out the oppressive summer heat?
Displaying the influence of the Western tradition and 1982’s “First Blood” in equal measure, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s often violent story is admittedly built on a less-than-original narrative foundation.
The oh-so-familiar nutshell synopsis: A stoic stranger wanders into a small backwater town and – yadda yadda yadda – ends up declaring war on the whole corrupt power structure behind it.
There’s not much room for nuance here. The good guys are good and the bad guys are really, really bad, and it’s not hard to tell who’s who.
No-nonsense intensity
But what “Rebel Ridge” lacks in originality and subtlety, it more than makes up for in pull-no-punches, no-nonsense intensity.
As with Saulnier’s previous films – most notably 2013’s “Blue Ruin” and 2015’s “Green Room” – “Rebel Ridge” is a deftly executed balancing act. Story-wise, it manages to be violent without being dumb, humorless without being cold and relevant without being preachy.
Shot in various South Louisiana locales including the Vernon Parish town of Leesville and Tangipahoa Parish’s Ponchatoula, it’s set in the tiny town of Shelby Springs. It’s a fictional place, but you know the kind of town: forgotten, angry and rotten to its stinking core.
That’s the landscape into which our hero unwittingly wanders at the film’s outset. He’s a Marine Corps veteran named Terry Richmond, and within minutes of his arrival, he is waylaid by two of Shelby Springs’ finest and relieved of a sizeable chunk of cash in the name of civil forfeiture laws.
The thing is, Terry needs that money. Like, he really needs it. And although he is repeatedly advised to just walk away, he’s not the just-walk-away type. He’s a stand-and-fight type.
What’s more, he’s got the military training to back it up, as the town’s lawless lawmen – led by a scowling Don Johnson – are about to learn.
First lead backed out
When “Rebel Ridge” was first ramping up to shoot in spring 2020, actor John Boyega (“The Force Awakens,” “They Cloned Tyrone”) was given the lead role. When he backed out in 2021 for the deliberately vague “family reasons,” the loss of his star power was seen by some as a critical blow to the production.
As it turns out, it might have been the best thing to happen to it.
In his place, Saulnier was pitched on the London-born Aaron Pierre (“The Underground Railroad”). Although his name might not be a household one – yet – the weight he brings to the role ends up being among the film’s chief assets.
In fact, he owns the role so fully that it’s hard to imagine anyone else in it.
On one hand, he boasts the imposing superhero physicality of a Chris Hemsworth. That’s blended, however, with the strength of character, intelligence and quiet capableness of a Denzel Washington.
The combination is both rare and striking. His Terry is a serious person above all else, but, with his single-minded sense of justice, viewers will find it easy to root for him.
Amid the online parlor game of what Black actor today should play James Bond, I hereby nominate Aaron Pierre.
After all, he and his particular set of skills helped save the troubled “Rebel Ridge” from cinema’s scrap heap. Specter wouldn’t stand a chance.
Mike Scott can be reached at [email protected].
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“REBEL RIDGE”
3 stars, out of 4
CAST: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, James Cromwell.
DIRECTOR: Jeremy Saulnier.
RATED: Unrated, warrants R
TIME: 2 hours, 11 minutes.
WHEN AND WHERE: Now streaming on Netflix.
For the record, yes, you could go mow your lawn right now.
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