Jeremy Saulnier and the Slow Decline of Filmmakers I Love

It has not been an easy ten years for me as a cinephile. Forget the flood of reboots and remakes that have replaced most original content in movie theaters, the death of the mid-range dramatic film, and the emasculation of cinema to follow cultural trends. I’m talking about the incredible promise of certain directing careers that dawned a decade or more ago and have since dwindled.

Jeremy Saulnier’s new film REBEL RIDGE reminded me of this trend. The disappointing new effort from the once exciting new voice in genre filmmaking is sadly no surprise for all the wrong reasons. RIDGE not only bows to the socio-political hip movements of the day but also fails to be a tight, energetic thriller. It has a fat script, bloated and overstuffed with at least a half hour of material that should have hit the cutting room floor. And this follows six years after HOLD THE DARK, a huge let down after Saulnier’s incredible GREEN ROOM and BLUE RUIN, not to mention his striking debut MURDER PARTY. His downward trajectory, during which REBEL RIDGE is only a slight improvement on the steep decline, is only one example in a series of careers that have gradually deflated.

Jeff Nichols is another favorite of mine. His TAKE SHELTER remains one of the best films of the 21st century. With MUD, he showed that he could veer towards a more mainstream narrative while retaining his unique Southern voice. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL and LOVING were solid efforts, neither great but enough to keep the fire going. And then he got lost in the Hollywood machine, wasting years developing projects he never should have even considered. Eight years later, he gives us THE BIKERIDERS and I ask the same question prompted by Saulnier’s newest, “We waited this long for this?” See that’s the problem, it’s not just the decrease in quality, it’s the quantity and frequency of the work. More on that in a bit.

The worst case is Denis Villeneuve. Contrary to public opinion, Villeneuve’s work has not improved in recent years. After PRISONERS (perhaps the best film of the last twenty years) and the fascinating yet flawed ENEMY, Denis started to show warning signs with SICARIO. Well-loved, I think the movie has a plethora of narrative issues and a central character who doesn’t make much sense. It also hinted that Denis was getting a case of Tarantino, that means not knowing when your shit stinks. His BLADE RUNNER sequel proved that suspicion was correct because it is shit… The new movie is not only an indulgent bore but it in no way captures the spirit, ideas, or even characters of the original. I haven’t seen the DUNE movie but they wreak of everything that worried me about the direction of his career.

And then there’s S. Craig Zahler. He has a perfect batting average with three great films in a row (BONE TOMAHAWK, BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99, and DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE), but he hasn’t played a single season in far too many years. Now, he might have a new film on the horizon but will it live up to the incredible trio he started with? I’m cautiously optimistic because as mentioned before, it’s not just a question of how good a filmmaker’s next work is, it’s also the frequency that they’re actually working.

Would REBEL RIDGE and THE BIKERIDERS have been better films if they’d followed no more than two years after their predecessors? Yes. Without question. None of these guys are Stanley Kubrick, even if one of them thinks he is. They’re craftsmen and they need to work their craft. Unfortunately, there’s no studio system to keep them working and the system that does exist is in bad shape. I hear nothing but “it’s harder than ever to get a movie made” from everyone and I mean everyone! Also, if these guys worked more often (other than Denis who should check into creative rehab for a few years) it wouldn’t matter if their new movie had issues. It’s impossible to make a great movie every time out. Look at the career of Woody Allen, a guy who has made a film almost every year since he started. Some are great, some are good, some are just watchable, and a few are bad. But to borrow an analogy I used before, a baseball team doesn’t have to win every MLB to make the playoffs. There are lots of games! And these filmmakers would have a better average if they played more… and I guarantee they’d have more impressive, memorable careers in the long run.

This will eventually be published on my website, runningwildfilms.com, and my Travis Mills Facebook page. For the next week, it is exclusively available here