- Actors: John Cusack, Ellar Coltrane, Willa Fitzgerald, Jacob Artist
- Director: Lucky McKee
- Format: AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: LIONSGATE
- Release Date: December 19, 2017
- Run Time: 85 minutes
Horror movies
can often get away with having unlikable characters, if only because of their
inevitable demise. Although there are deaths in Blood Money, it is clearly not a horror film. This also means that
there are no guarantees about which obnoxious character may survive, although
there are a lot of options within the cast of characters. It is difficult to
even say who the bad guy of the story is, especially since the obvious choice
is also the most likeable character in the film. Even with a tried-and-true
narrative borrowed from classic cinema, Blood
Money is an irritating movie due to its unrelatable characters making
illogical choices.
Despite some
critics’ complaints, I did not have a problem with the casting of John Cusack
as Miller, the criminal who sets off a deadly chain of events when he
parachutes out of plane with a fortune of stolen money. The criticism of this
casting decision had to do with Cusack’s lack of intensity, but this choice
makes more sense when you realize that he is less of a villain than the greedy
college student that stumbles on the stolen money and claims it as her own.
Lynn (Willa
Fitzgerald) is in the wilderness on a whitewater rapids trip with her two male
friends, both of which are clearly in love with her. Victor (Ellar Coltrane)
had a brief fling with Lynn
and he is still secretly harboring feelings, even though she has moved on to
sleeping with Jeff (Jacob Artist), who looks ten years older than his childhood
friends. This love triangle is obnoxious from the moment these three characters
are together, especially since Lynn
treats them both horribly and they repeatedly follow her around like pathetic
whining pets. Even when she makes it clear numerous times that the money means
more to her than the lives of either of them, both guys continue to sacrifice
themselves for Lynn.
This is enough to make you root for Miller to shoot any of these characters.
When the
material is as obvious as this is, a lot comes down to casting choices and the
performances to bring life to a stale formula. Cusack is low key, but his
involvement was the only compelling aspect of the film. Coltrane has still yet
to convince me that he is an actor and not just the central figure in a
gimmicky filmmaking idea, and this film doesn’t provide many opportunities once
the characters begin making stupid decisions. And Artist simply looks too old
to be playing characters in their early 20s any more. It may have worked to
have him play a younger age on “Glee” but he has aged considerably since the
show aired, and now he doesn’t look like he fits in the role at all.
There are plenty
of options in the category of low budget action/thrillers that take place in
the wilderness with a bad guy hunting innocent people. Blood Money offers a slight twist on the sub-genre/trend, but that
originality comes at the cost of obnoxious characters. The action is minimal,
but the suspense is effective. If I weren’t so annoyed with the ending, I might
have even given Blood Money an
unenthusiastic recommendation.
The Blu-ray
release for Blood Money comes with a
Digital HD copy of the film. There is only one special feature on the disc
itself, which is a brief promotional featurette.
Entertainment Value:
5.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
Special Features: 3/10
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