A rare and much appreciated good B-movie: Christy/Brown/Sizemore's BLUE RIDGE

Surprisingly well-written and -acted, and directed with enough verve and intelligence to keep viewers watching, BLUE RIDGE turns out to be one of those rare finds among the countless B movies being released in these days of our current pandemic. It's smart and thoughtful and has a fleet and lovely grasp of everything from character to situation and setting -- the gorgeous Blue Ridge mountains of Appalachia.

As directed by Michigan native Brent Christy and co-wrriten by Caleb G. Brown and Shea Sizemore, the movie is also that rare bird in today's let's-make-it-as-bloody-and-violent-as-possible context that deliberately chooses, as does the film's hero (the new-to-town sheriff played by Johnathon Schaech), to prevent that blood and violence from taking place. 

Director Christy (shown at right) knows how to create suspense without over-milking anything and he draws fine performances from every actor on screen, leads to smallest speaking parts. This is the best role Mr. Schaech (shown above and below) has had in some time, and he does a terrific job with everything from the action scenes to the abashed romantic moments. He is helped enormously by the excellent script that draws character from quick, smart flashes of dialog that are often witty, charming or nasty -- as needed -- and never over-does anything. The exposition, too, is an integral part of the investigation here, as the screenplay allows our newcomer sheriff to learn things at the same time as does the audience.

The movie begins as the sheriff and his young daughter (he has taken this particular job in order to be in closer proximity to that daughter and to his estranged-but-still-loving wife) make a quick stop at a local convenience store only to find that something is going wrong there. The film's biggest coincidence -- fortunately, it's one that comes at the beginning so it's over with quickly -- is that this sleepy little town has two major criminal events happen on the same day. But even this comes together nicely via the smart screenplay by the film's finale.

The clever, off-the-cuff dialog is most apparent between the sheriff's two friendly-feuding deputies (Ben Esler and Lara Silva, above, left and right respectively) and his wife and daughter (Sarah Lancaster and Taegen Burns, right and left, respectively, below). The former's are fun and funny, the latter's more emotional, and both are always brief and believable.

Supporting cast includes some fine actors giving their brief scenes exactly the right oomph and gravitas: Graham Greene (below, seen earlier this week in the crappy horror film, Tar) plays the father of the first victim, 

while an excellent Tom Proctor (below) handles the role of the Greene character's major adversary with a resonant anger that's both surface and buried. This proves a kind of local Hatfield/Mc Coy situation, and it's the major thing that our sheriff must keep from exploding.

Even the husband of the initial victim is written and portrayed (by Kevin L. Johnson, below) with enough trenchant and specific detail to make this guy register more strongly that you'd expect. The solution to the crimes is a surprise but one that, given the situation and information we've learned, makes good, sad sense.

TrustMovies does not want to overstate the case for Blue Ridge. It's nothing great, but as decent B-movies go, it's one of the better examples of late and should provide a good evening's entertainment without making you sorry you watched. The movie's a pleasure. And not at all a guilty one.

From Imagicomm Entertainment and running a just-right 88 minutes, the movie hits DVD and digital HD this Tuesday, October 20 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Blu-ray/DVDebut: David Burris' Appalachia-set clan saga, THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT

With a nod to the Hatfields and McCoys, the Civil War, and a little modern-day drug-dealing, the quietly engrossing movie THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT -- based on the novel of the same name by Award winning Carolina writer Ron Rash (born in South C but raised in North C) -- turns out to be a very nice surprise. Yes, the movie could be better: a bit tighter with less repetition and not quite so heavy-handed at times. But there is an integrity about the entire undertaking, starting, I should guess, with the original novel by Mr. Rash, and proceeding from there through the screenplay (Shane Danielsen), dialog, direction (David Burris) and performances from the entire cast that finally makes this sad tale (of family ties that span generations, guilt, bad behavior and maybe some redemption) believable, resonant and even somewhat memorable.

Mr. Burris, shown at left, has more experience in the television field than with movies, yet his work here most definitely looks like a film. He handles his cast well, and serves the interests of both Mr. Rash and Mr. Danielsen. From the opening scene, which features a Civil War execution/ massacre of a family (this is handled, as is most of the movie's content, seriously, effectively and with minimum gore) into the more-or-less present-day events, the plot moves along quietly and with an ever-growing sense of dread that keeps building.

The film's biggest question is, Who, exactly, are these people to each other? By the end we have some answers, though these will have grown and changed somewhat from what we and certain characters imagined that we/they originally knew. This is especially true of Leonard (Noah Wyle, above), a sometimes drug dealer and native of the area, and Travis (Jeremy Irvine, below), the young man whom he meets in one fashion and begins to mentor in another.

It's clear than both these guys have a connection to the Civil War and to the family we saw at the beginning, but how, what and why is seriously clouded. Also on hand is Leonard's sometimes girl (Minka Kelly, below),

and a young nurse (played by Adelaide Clemens, below) who becomes attracted to Travis during his stay in the hospital. Death hangs over the movie heavily from the outset, yet nothing happens to our modern-day folk for quite a long while.

Via fast and occasional flashbacks, we piece together some of the backstory, all of which simply adds to the sense of foreboding that the movie handles so well. Basically a kind of coming-of-age tale featuring folk who may or may not live to come of that age, The World Made Straight does a commendable job of limning the lives of people so steeped in their own pain and envy, pride and stupidity that they can barely understand there might be another way of life.

Those who do must leave this barren-spirited place. One of them does (alive, too), and we have hopes that another couple of our characters will manage this, as well. It's very much to the movie's credit that anything positive that happens here seems absolutely earned. A word should also be said for the fine cinematography (by Tim Orr) in which the place -- North Carolina -- appears every bit as beautiful and spacious as the people seem drab, frightened, cornered or conflicted.

After an exceedingly limited theatrical release last month, the film -- from Alchemy and running two hours exactly -- will be available on Blu-ray and DVD this coming Tuesday, February 17. Streaming and VOD, I imagine, will be coming soon....