Blood

BLOOD is the film version of a lengthy BBC miniseries called CONVICTION, in which a pair of detective brothers struggle to cope with the demands of the job while caring for their father who's suffering from dementia. When a young girl is found brutally murdered in the local skate park, her death drives the men over the edge.

Wow, this is one of the darkest movies I've seen in a while. It's almost wrist-slittingly grim, with a cast populated by the mentally ill, perverts, and psychopaths. The film was shot in the Wirral and looks dark and grim throughout, with the only colour that stands out blood red. Depressing scene follows depressing scene, until the final nihilistic climax.

Despite the downbeat nature of the production, this is highly watchable thanks to the talents of a fine cast. Paul Bettany excels as the volatile lead, with Stephen Graham giving a typically assured turn as his stressed-out brother. Brian Cox still shines even in his later years as the elder struggling with memory loss. There are even roles for former comedian Adrian Edmondson and Ben Crompton, best known for his role as one of the Night's Watch in GAME OF THRONES. And I can't say out pleased I am to see Mark Strong NOT typecast as a villain.

The plot is a simple one and yet there's so much incident packed into the scant running time that it ends up being very fast paced with barely room to go out of the room and make a cup of tea. I'm glad it has a short running time too; I'm not sure I would have wanted to sit through hours and hours of this grim story. A British Scandi-noir type thriller, BLOOD deserves plaudits for the work of its cast alone.

"What have you done??! What have you done ??!" After a young girl is brutally murdered it is up to a family on the police force to catch the murderer. After all the clues point to one man two brothers go out and find him and bring him in for questioning. After it turns out there isn't enough evidence for trial they push for a confession. When the interrogation goes to far the family is now forced to investigate the crime they committed. This was an interesting idea for a movie and I am usually a fan of the British crime genre so I was looking forward to seeing this. I was not disappointed at all. The movie was a little slow at times but overall it kept me interested and I really liked the character arcs and watching all of them change for better or worse. The cast and acting is great and the movie is tense and entertaining. Fans of this genre will really enjoy this, I know I did. Overall, very much worth seeing and keeps you feeling tense and your not really sure who to root for the entire movie. I give it a B.

The brothers Chris and Joe are policemen working together. A family tradition. Their old Dad was also a detective, now suffering from the first signs of Alzheimer's decease. They get frustrated when they can't get a former child abuser convicted for murdering a 12 year old girl, even if they find her necklace and some pictures of her in his apartment. They start off with untraditional methods to get him to confess.

This is the start of this British crime thriller, which follows in the great tradition of this kind from the isles. The start is bleak, but takes on a strong turn, which grabs your interest intensively.

A strong cast, with Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham leading on, with great Brian Cox as the father, and Mark Strong as a colleague, and Ben Crompton as the pedophile. Strong performances all over, also from the kids. Bettany is great when he gets this haunted look.

The film is suspenseful and atmospheric, though filmed in bleach colors, making in just the more real looking. Recommended!

For a film with such quality actors and a name brand director in the form of Sam Mendes as producer it's hard to gage just why Blood was released with such little fanfare but then again upon watching of the film it's hard to promote it as a must see when in reality it's a film that whilst having good central performances is just too generic to fully buy into.

Adapted from the British mini series titled Conviction, Blood has a plot that is all too familiar for anyone who has but a passing interest in the family/crime genre of movies. In the role of brothers and cops the film has its strongest points with Paul Bettany in a rare leading role and Stephan Graham in another top supporting turn doing well with their respective characters Joe and Chrissie. It's always good to see Bettany on screen and for an actor that chooses a wide range of shoddy roles it's a welcome return here to see him display a range of emotions. Stephan Graham in my opinion one of the most talented and watchable actors working today with his work on HBO's Boardwalk Empire and roles in feature films such as This is England showcasing his startling talents and again here comes away with the films best moments in a film that needed more of them.

One of Blood's major problems is in its setting up of the story and subsequent lack of feelings after it due to a rushed and frankly over the top scenario that would of worked better if the film spent more time establishing the bond between the brothers, there iffy relationship with fellow cop Robert (thank goodness Strong is not a bad guy!) and the trials they are experiencing with their ex-cop dad Lenny (Cox). It all plays along nicely enough but you never get the sense your witnessing anything feature film worthy thanks to Murphy's bland direction and dull set ups.

If you're a fan of Bettany and Graham Blood is a film worthy of your time to see the fine actors ply their trade side by side but for anyone else Blood is nothing more than a sadly predictable and safe movie that really should have been a lot more memorable.

2 and a half bacon sandwiches out of 5

Rarely does a movie come along that slips under the radar of the movie goers of the world that is as poignant as Blood. I know people have a habit of watching Blockbusters and judging all movies based on the salary of the actors and the budget of the film. Blood is proof, yet again, that a movie doesn't have to be high budget to be beyond great. I very rarely rate movies as most people don't really pay much attention to the actual review that is associated with the rating. The entire cast and crew of this movie were exemplary and deserve the accolades that go along with it. I have a new benchmark to base all crime dramas off of now thanks to this great and powerful movie.