If I was actually in the area today, I don’t think I’d be surprised at all to step inside Netflix’s Los Gatos headquarters and be met by something akin to a party atmosphere — maybe even a pandemonium of joy, with pent-up frustrations finally swept away by laughter, endless champagne, and pats on the back for a job well done. Why? Well, it’s because Netflix has gone and pulled off a feat that’s seemed nigh impossible for a while now: It’s releasing a new original movie, in this case director Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge, that critics … actually like.
Ok, ok, maybe I’m laying it on a bit thick. But, honestly, I’m shocked — it fees like it’s been 84 years since we’ve gotten a Netflix feature film that was at least one letter grade in quality above the likes of Jerry Seinfeld’s Pop-Tart movie.
I have been burned so many times, trying out a Netflix film that I knew nothing about only to feel like I wasted a perfectly good 90 minutes or so on mid storytelling and lowest common denominator entertainment. But Rebel Ridge — the review embargo for which has just lifted, ahead of its arrival on the streamer on Sept. 6 — is neither of those things. As of this writing, for example, its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score currently stands at 95%.
The movie is about an ex-Marine, Aaron Pierre’s Terry Richmond, who heads to the town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin and save him from danger. But Terry is forced to confront local police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), as well as the chief’s trigger-happy officers, when Terry’s life savings are unjustly seized by law enforcement. It’s an Everyman vs. everybody dynamic. Simple, straightforward, balls-to-the-wall action.
“I was introduced to the concept of Civil Asset Forfeiture a number of years ago,” Saulnier explains in a Netflix promotional interview. “It’s this insane loophole in anti-drug regulation that allows law enforcement to seize property from ordinary citizens without any proof of criminal activity. I thought it’d make a great premise for a movie because of how unifying it is — it pisses everyone off.
“But that was just the jumping off point. I’m an audience member first, and I miss those grounded ’80s and ’90s action films that not only deliver on spectacle, but succeed in tying on-screen mayhem to a real and true emotional component. Smaller scale, bigger impact. Less veneer, less artificiality and way more heart.”
Pierre is cool and, dare I say it, even Rambo-like in Rebel Ridge, which looks to be a well-deserved breakout role for the actor. The action scenes are pulse-pounding, and Richmond is put through the wringer just enough that it’ll keep you hooked from start to finish. Please watch it, people, so Netflix rightfully concludes that we want to see more quality movies like it.
