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REBEL RIDGE

"Ex-Marine Wages War on Corrupt Police Force"

Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)
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What You Need To Know:

REBEL RIDGE is about ex-marine Terry, who sells his belongings to bail his cousin out of jail. Before he can get to prison, corrupt cops run him down on his bike and steal his money. Terry offers to make a deal with the head honcho of the corruption, Chief Burnne, who transfers Terry’s cousin early, and he’s murdered. The Chief bribes Terry, who accepts the offer and leaves town. However, he is called back by a friend, Summer, the new attack target for helping Terry. This time, he goes back with a vengeance to save his friend and take down the corrupt town.

REBEL RIDGE has an exciting storyline with solid acting, especially Summer, played by AnnaSophia Robb, and Chief Burnne, played by Don Johnson. However, the plot wanders, making the movie seem excessively long. There's also some political commentary. For example, it relies on audience anxiety about police brutality against Black people to build momentum. It has excellent messages about self-control and taking higher moral ground. The movie also contains much violence, excessive profanities and obscenities, including about 50 "f" words. So MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for adults.

Content:

(B, C LLL, VV, DD, PCPC, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Emphasis on doing the right thing. The hero repeatedly shows self-control, pursues the most moral actions, and risks his life to save others. A large Cross with Jesus is the backdrop of one scene, along with a Christian stained-glass window, where a character takes part in a church activity for his son. Main character talks about the afterlife, dialogue dedicated to the use and need of de-escalation and use of non-lethal tactics; Language: About 50 f words, 2 “a” words, 23 “s” word, 1 h words, 4 uses of “p” word to describe urinating (as a metaphor);

Violence:
Police brutality, race related violence and discrimination. Violence and fights throughout, weapons used includes guns, non-lethal: tasing, grenades, rubber bullets, martial arts, choking, fire;

Nudity:
None;

Sex:
None;

Alcohol Use:
None;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
. References made to drugs, villain shoots up a former drug addict with heroine twice, man in prison for weed; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Dysfunctional family

More Detail:

REBEL RIDGE is a Netflix movie about ex-marine Terry, who sells his belongings to bail his cousin out of jail. Before he can get to prison, corrupt cops run him down on his bike and steal his money. He must get the money back, or his cousin will be killed. There are some excellent messages about self-control and taking higher moral ground. The movie contains much violence, excessive profanities and obscenities, including about 50 “f” words, along with politically correct commentary. So MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for adults.

The movie opens with a few corrupt Caucasian cops in a southern town who run down a Black ex-marine man, Terry, on his bike. The police officers show unwarranted brutality. Upon searching his bags, the cops discover Terry has thirty thousand dollars in cash. Terry explains it’s legal money- he sold his possessions to bail his cousin out of jail in this small Alabama town. The cops steal his cash and threaten him with trumped-up charges if he protests.

Terry takes the matter to the town offices, explaining that he needs the money back. If his cousin doesn’t pay bail before being transferred to state prison, other inmates he previously testified against will murder him. Chief Sandy Burnne harshly issues a warning against Terry to leave his town and his money behind. An administrative assistant, Summer, overhears Terry’s plea and offers to help him.

They discover widespread corruption. Terry is only concerned about the release of his cousin and tries to make a deal with the Chief, who loosely agrees but betrays Terry by sending his cousin to state prison before he can pay bail. As Terry predicted, inmates murder his cousin. Chief Burnne bribes him into letting the matter go. Terry accepts the bribe and leaves town. However, the corrupt cops attack Summer who calls Terry for help. This time, Terry goes all-ex-marine to bring down members of the corrupt city.

REBEL RIDGE has an interesting storyline with strong acting, especially Summer, played by AnnaSophia Robb, and Chief Burnne, played by Don Johnson. However, the plot wanders, making the movie seem excessively long. There’s also some political commentary. For example, the movie relies on audience anxiety about police brutality against Black people to build momentum. The ex-marine exhibits qualities created by those who seek to implement new guidelines for law enforcement with the hopes of correcting police brutality.

The main character discusses using non-lethal tactical weapons, such as tasing and rubber bullets, which are didactic and distract from the story. It also comes across as corny and unrealistic. With the number of corrupt officers trying to kill Terry, he would have to use lethal force. The lead character, Terry, shows excellent control and maintains a strong sense of doing the right thing. He is a hero for justice and defends the weak. That said, there is far too much violence and excessive foul language. MOVIEGUIDE® recommends extreme caution for all audiences.



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