Bleeding Heart

Rating Breakdown: Story - 0.50 :: Direction - 1.00 :: Pace - 0.75 :: Performances - 0.75 :: Entertainment - 1.00 :::: TOTAL - 4/10

Oh, dear. Bound By Blood (2015), or Bleeding Heart, had potential-a story about two estranged sisters reconnecting should've been rich with drama and emotional heft. Instead, it's a plodding, monochromatic mess that never delivers on its promise.

Jessica Biel plays May, a do-gooder yoga instructor, and Zosia Mamet is Shiva, her rebellious, sex-worker sister. Together, they navigate a bleak reunion full of familial tension and external threats. Sounds gripping, right? Wrong. The script by Diane Bell is so devoid of depth and nuance that the characters barely register as two-dimensional. May is relentlessly passive, and Shiva is little more than a collection of clichés.

Visually, the film fares no better. Awful washed-out filters drain the colour from every scene, leaving the film looking like it's been soaked in dishwater. It's a shame because, occasionally, there's a decent shot buried under all that dreariness.

The pacing is a slog, and the performances feel half-hearted at best. Even Biel, who usually has screen presence, seems hamstrung by the lifeless script. Mamet tries to inject some defiance into Shiva, but the character is so poorly written that it barely registers.

Ultimately, Bound By Blood is a thriller without the thrill, a drama without the drama. It's emotionally flat, visually unappealing, and narratively hollow. There are better films out there-this one isn't worth your time. Save yourself 90 minutes and watch something else.

What is it that ties ours hands thus keeping us from helping another human being; we each feel this urge to be a good person, but often stopping short of accomplishing anything. So many times we are pulled the opposite way by those interfering; for once can someone please have a spine, and stand up tall. Bleeding Heart filled these expectations, and in a big way.

There were several movies I wanted to watch tonight, and I am glad I picked this first. Jessica Beil and Zosia Mamet carried the movie with a relationship which showed superb acting, and supporting actors played perfect roles with setting up the stage of the movie.

A little known fact, the three brothers that made up Warner Brothers specifically chose to produce movies which had a point to them, hoping the audience would learn something. Watch this movie and let me know if you thought there were characters that their actions just turned your stomach inside out, while others in the script empowered you.

I watched this film alone. I actually found myself yelling stuff at the screen. Something I never do. I was really into it.

Good dramas are like this. Keep you rooting for certain characters. The two sisters were great characters and I rooted for them the whole movie.

The story is in large part about an abusive boyfriend and the issues that it entails. The story and acting were top notch with great performances. I never had an issue with the acting.

I wonder how much this cost to make. It is a pretty simple story but so well executed. The best kind of story is simple but done well. If you like dramas and this type of story I would recommend.

Nothing like putting a name to a movie to create that money grab. If Beal wasn't in this I would never of watched it........but I did regretfully. Beal , looks like poops in this too. what was up with that. if Yoga makes you look like that stay away from Yoga. Well , that is the one thing I did get from this movie. Boring , except for the last 2min. They just kind of smash their way thru a story line and the writing. Hollywood just doesn't care about quality anymore. It is obvious with all the poop pushed out like making cookie cutter pizza. Hey maybe Domino's should make movies. if you are bored and have nothing to do but kill time and brain cells watch this. but you're not missing a thing at ALL if you don't.

This film tells the story of a yoga instructor who finds her long lost half sister with the help of a private investigator. The half sister is a sex worker and has an abusive boyfriend, so the yoga instructor makes it her mission to save her half sister.

"Bleeding Heart" has a rather unconvincing story. The main problem I find is that I can't be sure whether the half sister is really who she is supposed to be. The whole saviour mission looks more like a mid life crisis thing, rather than a mission out of blood relations. If Jessica Biel wasn't in this film, I would not have had watched it, and would have enjoyed it even less.