Director: Lucky McKee
Writer: Jared Butler, Lars Norberg (Screenplay)
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Willa Fitzgerald, Jacob Artist, John Cusack, Ned Bellamy, Antonio J Bell, Johanna McGinley
Plot: 3 friends go rafting in the wilderness. Bags are dropped from a plane followed by a man in parachute. The 3 find the bags with USD8,000,000. The couple wants it and Victor splits, wanting to stay alive, out of prison.
Tagline – Greed has its price
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Standard Thriller
Story: Blood Money starts as three friends Victor (Coltrane), Lynn (Fitzgerald) and Jeff (Artist) come back together for a rafting trip away, to catch up and share their memories of their childhood, only they have their own secrets from each other.
When Lynn discovers a large amount money $8 Million, Lynn wants to keep it, with Jeff is willing to help, only Victor isn’t willing to take the money, despite the fact he would need it, to make matters worse Miller (Cusack) the man who was involved in the robbery is searching for the money, leading to a race through the woods to escape with the money.
Thoughts on Blood Money
Characters – Victor is the one of the group that hasn’t made too many career progressions, he is still living in a world he could have once had with Lynn, wanting to make something out of it, he isn’t looking for greed in anyway. Lynn has some secrets at play, she is desperate for money and when this opportunity falls at her feet, she simply can’t pass on the chance to become a millionaire overnight. She always puts the guys down and not in the fun way. This might well be a spin on the typical female character in this type of movie though. Jeff is the wealthy one of the group, he has come from money, he doesn’t need to work and at the start of this trip, he is with Lynn. Miller is the man looking to collect the money that has been dropped from the sky, when he learns who has the money he will show a deadlier side to him.
Performances – We get to see John Cusack in another one of these straight to DVD style thrillers, he seems to be doing a lot of these at the money and this one shows he can do the basics with ease. The rest of the cast are fine, only they don’t seem to get into the roles enough.
Story – The story here follows three old friends that find some stolen money and get to show their true colours, while the true criminal is hot on their tracks searching for the money he has stolen. The story does seem to try and give us a new spin on the characters involved with finding money, by making the female character the be the one so desperate for the money, while the male ones are the voice of reason. The criminal just seems to appear, we don’t see what his plan really is or was, which falls flat, with the overall core of the story being about greed showing the true identity of people’s friends.
Crime – The crime side of the film is the aftermath of a crime we never saw, it is trying to gain control of the money.
Settings – The film is set in the woodland area with a river that can be used for rafting, only it could be anywhere, nothing feels special.
Scene of the Movie – The ranger bump.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Trying to hide the money from the cops.
Final Thoughts – This is a typical, but routine crime thriller that just doesn’t get going in anyway, falling flat more than anything else.
Overall: Plain.
