Blood Ties

It's 1974 New York. Police detective Frank Pierzynski (Billy Crudup) leads a raid against Anthony Scarfo (Matthias Schoenaerts). They are disappointed by the relatively limited evidence found and Frank reconnects with his ex Vanessa (Zoe Saldana) who is now married to Scarfo. Scarfo awaits his release as his fury grows about Vanessa abandoning him for Frank. Meanwhile, Frank's older criminal brother Chris Pierzynski (Clive Owen) is released after serving twelve years for a revenge killing. His ex-wife Monica (Marion Cotillard) is now a drug-addicted prostitute. He has new girlfriend Natalie (Mila Kunis) and falls back into his criminal ways. He's living with his brother, father Leon (James Caan), and sister Marie (Lili Taylor)

This keeps threatening to be a good period crime thriller. It has the gritty feel and the music. It has a good cast. It has French action director Guillaume Canet. It should be compelling. It never really picks up steam except for one thrilling robbery sequence. While Crudup is solid in this era, Clive Owen is trying very hard to be hard. It's questionable if Owen could ever be that hard. Even in a bar fight where he hits a guy with a bottle, it still ends with a wimpy hold-me-back. I don't believe that he's been in a tough prison for twelve years. There are also a few too many females in the movie. I'm not being sexist. I mean there is at least one unnecessary female connection, not to mention that Lili Taylor has nothing to do other than to yell at the boys. The story narrative is a bit muddled but it figures it out by the time of the shootout. It just doesn't continue it with a compelling brother vs brother narrative. Instead, it gerry-rigs the story to engineer a shocking poetic ending. This movie keeps missing the target whenever it threatens to get good. The parts are all there if not the whole.

Love the movie. One of the best movies I have seen. Excellent story and good screenplay to go with it. However, need to be patient to follow the story line effectively through. Not a simple straightforward story which we usually see in movies. Good family crime drama. It is a thriller reaching the climax at the end. Like the ending too. The starting and the ending of the story blend together very well. In fact all the actors and actresses portrayed their parts very well indeed. The story is adapted from a French novel and movie. Clive Owen did a very good job as the other brother. Good choice of 60s music back ground. If you like simple straightforward action movie, then this is definitely not your type. Watch it patiently and you will love the movie!

Not the quality of or as engrossing as the French Connection or the Seven Ups, but still pretty good 70's crime action made in 2013. Clive (no black raincoat or rumpled suit this time), with a really bad haircut, Elvis side burns and requisite three quarter length leather jacket (a.k.a. Goodfellas hoods) plays a nasty and unexpectedly violent ex-con whose English accent appears at times while he returns to a life of crime with a local mobster after his work release from a long prison sentence. His brother, a cop, tries to help while having his own serious personal problems.

Very gritty NYC scenes and actors add to the movie's character. As a side note, great set decoration and ugly wardrobe if you like the 1970's. Appropriate that Mila Kunis from that 70's Show stars in this too as his improbable lover and wife. Clive is old enough to be her father. Also, if you like 1960's and 1970's cars including muscle cars, this is a great film just for that. Chevelle 454 SS, Charger, Thunderbirds, Galaxies, Cougars, second generation Barracuda, Coronets a plenty, etc are all around and in perfect condition (right out of someone's collection).

All the ingredients were there and the whole time watching it, I was rooting for this to be an intense, potentially "epic" '70s crime movie, and at first, it FELT like it could easily be just that, and then comes some contrived plot devices that bring you back into present day.

I won't spoil anything though, read the summary for a summary. The movie easily captures the '70s with its set pieces and locations and even gives you the feel of a movie made in that era. There are moments of brilliance that come in the form of suspenseful buildups, great direction, and editing and score work that turns some scene transitions into awesomeness. With a 2 hour running time, I had no issues with it feeling long or boring. The acting is impressive on all accounts (some chemistry could be a bit weird though) and for about the first hour I was engaged and feeling, 'wow, if they could just keep this up,' and then of course, unfortunately, they don't.

At some point some things just start to feel like their just being tossed in. I think one of its main problems is that the only real character development is placed on the two leads, so you can empathize when it calls for it and understand why the leads feel and act as they do, but only towards each other, and not always in the context of their interactions with supporting characters. The story calls for enough twists and turns that there is no room to do much developing with the supporting characters and this causes certain situations to happen rather abruptly or seem forced in order to get to the next stage. This could all be easily overlooked if it didn't happen so often (and at critical moments) and continually cause me to lose my suspension of disbelief while viewing an, otherwise, very well made movie.

Problems with plot are highly subjective so I still recommend this and am sure people will find what they were looking for, I ALMOST did. 6.5/10

I just returned from a screening of this film, and I feel the need to say that it was a really pleasing experience.

At first I had some doubts about it since the first reviews I'd read about the film were not too promising. It was supposed to be decent yet too long, and not really compelling. I'm very glad to say that I ignored these and went with my gut feeling to go see it anyway. Thoroughly well executed as well in music score as visual cinematography, the real standout in this one is the fact that it really gets you to understand both sides of the brother's stories. It is really hard to tell who's wrong and who's right by the time you get to the end of the screening. An obvious call as it may seem at first but when the chips fall as they do one might have to reconsider their opinion. The excellence of this movie is the way in which it manages to blend ethical questions, family ties, and personal beliefs in a way that makes perfect sense without wanting to be overly self-aware or condemning. It is and remains a tale of two brother's with diverging paths and beliefs in their respective lives and how they interact with each other and their shared environment. Praise to Clive Owen for portraying his character the way he does, he really fits the part and gives a more real and deeper dimension to the role. Every other actor and actress' portrayal is also quite spot on, and even the 'bad guys' in it feel relatable. It has a long runtime but to me it never felt as such, it doesn't bore and in my opinion its runtime seems necessary to let you see every aspect of the story. A solid character study of two brother's that want to like each other and do so in their own way but struggle with their different views on life and the fine line between right and wrong.

Maybe "Blood Ties" isn't the best film that has been released this year but it's solid both in story as in execution. It certainly deserves better than 'moderate' reviews.