“You are just a terrible, terrible person.” —Miller
Today’s quick review: Blood Money. Childhood friends Victor (Ellar Coltrane), Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald), and Jeff (Jacob Artist) get back together for a river rafting trip. But the trip takes a dire turn when Lynn discovers $8 million in cash that belongs to Miller (John Cusack), a criminal who lost it while making his getaway. Now Lynn and her friends must get the money back to civilization before Miller can catch them and reclaim his ill-gotten gains.
Blood Money is a crime thriller about three young friends who stumble across a fortune in stolen cash. Victor, Lynn, and Jeff are faced with a decision: leave the money and go back home, or risk everything for the opportunity of a lifetime. Blood Money gets some good mileage out of this premise thanks to the tensions within the group and their frantic flight through the wilderness. However, the movie’s reliance on its characters makes it hit-or-miss.
Blood Money wrestles with the problem of how to portray its characters. Victor, Lynn, and Jeff start the movie as good friends but soon start fighting, first over romantic scars and later over the money. The farther the story goes, the more the audience learns about them and the less sympathetic they become. This leads to an odd tradeoff where Blood Money’s best story developments come at the cost of the audience’s investment in its characters.
Even with this factored out, Blood Money is a mixed bag. The plot takes a long time to get started, with the early part of the movie dedicated to the group and their personal drama. The chase has some clever twists to it, but ultimately it’s shorter and less tense than in other thrillers. Miller also makes for an unusual antagonist, a reasonable man who’s willing to kill to get his money back, rather than a mastermind or a sadist.
How much you get out of Blood Money will depend on how open you are to following characters who aren’t meant to be liked. Those who are used to slasher movies or similarly cynical thrillers will be able to appreciate where the movie takes its characters. Those who prefer stories with clear-cut heroes will find Blood Money to be draining watch. In either case, the movie’s conflict gives it some appeal, but not enough to stand out from the crowd.
For a more haunting drama about a river trip that turns violent, try Deliverance. For another crime drama about ordinary people who stumble across a windfall, try Good People. For a minimalistic thriller about stolen cash with a similarly flawed cast of characters, try Money. For a much darker and more compelling thriller, try No Country For Old Men. For a more restrained story about the corruption of riches, try The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
4.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.5 for decent ideas held back by overly unlikable characters and a limited scope.