********This Review May Contain Spoilers******** This crime drama and period piece will open soon enough I'm sure and it stars one of my all-time favorite actors in Clive Owen, and joining him on screen are Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, Marion Cotillard, Zoe Saldana, Lili Taylor, and James Caan. "Blood Ties" comes to us from director Guillaume Canet, and he is the previous director of "Little White Lies" & the brilliant "Tell No One" from 2006. I just love the film "Tell No One" and it was very cool meeting the director, and sitting in on his Q & A following the screening.
This tale tells the story of family and specifically of two brothers in Brooklyn, and how these two people of the same blood line couldn't be more different if they were from separate planets. The younger brother Frank has grown up to become one of New York City's Finest, and his older brother Chris lives and breathes on the opposite side of the law and has become a career criminal. They both have love interests and children that add to the family drama, but it is the family of organized crime that it the strongest bond between these two brothers.
Well people I will begin with this ensemble cast and to one solid actor in Clive Owen. This man commands the big screen with just a look, and his rugged sex appeal makes him connect even more with the audience. Now what is shocking in his portrayal of Chris is his cold-freakin-bloodedness, and as the film progresses he never redeems himself or falters from this life of crime. Bill Crudup's turn as Frank is a very nice complement to Owen's Chris, and his sensitive, righteous, and vulnerable portrayal gives "Blood Ties" the moral compass that it needs. Now even though Frank is the better of the two brothers he himself is not without faults, and let's just say that he is less than admirable when it comes to acquiring his own love interest.
Now unfortunately because of time constraints and also because of the size of the cast I can only briefly cover the rest of the on screen players. Both Zoe Saldana & Mila Kunis are more than simple love interests and both at least bring to life real characters, and even though James Caan really isn't in the movie all that much he is very effective when he is on the big screen. Marion Cotillard once again tackles a role that she has never tackled before and comes off above average as she usually does, and even bit players like "The Soprano's" John Ventimiglia & "The Wire's" Domenick Lombardozzi manage to bring substance to this feature.
This takes me to director Guillaume Canet and you could see and feel his passion for the look & tone of the 1970's. Everything in "Blood Ties" from the soundtrack, to the costumes, the props, and especially to the cars were spot-on perfect, and added all up these elements made up almost a character all its own. Canet also worked brilliantly with his frequent director of photography Christophe Offenstien, and together they put on display a beautiful New York City decades long since passed. The DOP also captures correctly the interior shots and again brings authenticity to these smaller moments as well.
Then the entire family theme of "Blood Ties" worked well for me. Now the moments of sincerity are few and far between, but they are very effective when used. I also very much enjoyed the scenes in the film where the entire family was together at dinner or for a family function, and those were the film's best moments because the acting is so darn good that the scenes just feel genuine and realistic.
Now as much as I did enjoy "Blood Ties" there are more than a few 'Nick-Picking' issues to go over. The first and biggest issue with this film is that it is almost 2 ½ hours in length. For as much as I can complement the directing and visual style of the filmmaker, as the screenwriter he should've just gotten to the point a whole lot sooner. Some spots in this movie reminded me of a Tarantino or Apatow script where the scenes just go on & on, and I believe that these guys love their own writing more than anyone else. Extra sub-plots that are decidedly unnecessary could've easily been eliminated, and by doing so would've lead to a much tighter feature. The movie also followed some typical stereotypes and this was one of the few spots where the project felt completely unoriginal. There was also much homage paid to Scorsese, Friedkin, & Coppola maybe a little too much than needed. Finally, why can't people ever just get away with it? Why does something always come up that has to ruin it? I don't know, I guess that you wouldn't have a movie otherwise?
At just shy of 2 ½ hours"Blood Ties" was an above average film, but the length is its biggest flaw. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole "Angels with Dirty Faces" theme surrounded by "Mean Streets" & "The French Connection", and with the ensemble put together in this film how could you really fail? This was a project that to me was very much an example of many coming together for the benefit of the project or film, and I think that you could tell that all involved actually cared about the movie. This tale builds to a very satisfying conclusion, and I enjoyed most of this one almost start to finish. Nick's Reel Screen Review is a solid recommendation of 3 stars out of 4, and that's for the flawed but entertaining crime drama "Blood Ties".
This tale tells the story of family and specifically of two brothers in Brooklyn, and how these two people of the same blood line couldn't be more different if they were from separate planets. The younger brother Frank has grown up to become one of New York City's Finest, and his older brother Chris lives and breathes on the opposite side of the law and has become a career criminal. They both have love interests and children that add to the family drama, but it is the family of organized crime that it the strongest bond between these two brothers.
Well people I will begin with this ensemble cast and to one solid actor in Clive Owen. This man commands the big screen with just a look, and his rugged sex appeal makes him connect even more with the audience. Now what is shocking in his portrayal of Chris is his cold-freakin-bloodedness, and as the film progresses he never redeems himself or falters from this life of crime. Bill Crudup's turn as Frank is a very nice complement to Owen's Chris, and his sensitive, righteous, and vulnerable portrayal gives "Blood Ties" the moral compass that it needs. Now even though Frank is the better of the two brothers he himself is not without faults, and let's just say that he is less than admirable when it comes to acquiring his own love interest.
Now unfortunately because of time constraints and also because of the size of the cast I can only briefly cover the rest of the on screen players. Both Zoe Saldana & Mila Kunis are more than simple love interests and both at least bring to life real characters, and even though James Caan really isn't in the movie all that much he is very effective when he is on the big screen. Marion Cotillard once again tackles a role that she has never tackled before and comes off above average as she usually does, and even bit players like "The Soprano's" John Ventimiglia & "The Wire's" Domenick Lombardozzi manage to bring substance to this feature.
This takes me to director Guillaume Canet and you could see and feel his passion for the look & tone of the 1970's. Everything in "Blood Ties" from the soundtrack, to the costumes, the props, and especially to the cars were spot-on perfect, and added all up these elements made up almost a character all its own. Canet also worked brilliantly with his frequent director of photography Christophe Offenstien, and together they put on display a beautiful New York City decades long since passed. The DOP also captures correctly the interior shots and again brings authenticity to these smaller moments as well.
Then the entire family theme of "Blood Ties" worked well for me. Now the moments of sincerity are few and far between, but they are very effective when used. I also very much enjoyed the scenes in the film where the entire family was together at dinner or for a family function, and those were the film's best moments because the acting is so darn good that the scenes just feel genuine and realistic.
Now as much as I did enjoy "Blood Ties" there are more than a few 'Nick-Picking' issues to go over. The first and biggest issue with this film is that it is almost 2 ½ hours in length. For as much as I can complement the directing and visual style of the filmmaker, as the screenwriter he should've just gotten to the point a whole lot sooner. Some spots in this movie reminded me of a Tarantino or Apatow script where the scenes just go on & on, and I believe that these guys love their own writing more than anyone else. Extra sub-plots that are decidedly unnecessary could've easily been eliminated, and by doing so would've lead to a much tighter feature. The movie also followed some typical stereotypes and this was one of the few spots where the project felt completely unoriginal. There was also much homage paid to Scorsese, Friedkin, & Coppola maybe a little too much than needed. Finally, why can't people ever just get away with it? Why does something always come up that has to ruin it? I don't know, I guess that you wouldn't have a movie otherwise?
At just shy of 2 ½ hours"Blood Ties" was an above average film, but the length is its biggest flaw. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole "Angels with Dirty Faces" theme surrounded by "Mean Streets" & "The French Connection", and with the ensemble put together in this film how could you really fail? This was a project that to me was very much an example of many coming together for the benefit of the project or film, and I think that you could tell that all involved actually cared about the movie. This tale builds to a very satisfying conclusion, and I enjoyed most of this one almost start to finish. Nick's Reel Screen Review is a solid recommendation of 3 stars out of 4, and that's for the flawed but entertaining crime drama "Blood Ties".