Blood Money

Three old friends go on a rafting trip in the countryside after finishing their first year in college. Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald), Jeff (Jacob Artist) and Victor (Ellar Coltrane) seem to have some unresolved issues regarding their friendship. Lynn feels used by them especially as she went out with Victor and is now seeing Jef. She feels that both of them see her as a trophy to possess since she hit puberty.

Embezzler Miller (John Cusack) parachutes down with four heavy bags, $8 million dollars in stolen currency. As he lands he gets separated from his loot which Lynn finds in her early morning run. Lynn can really use that money but we are never told why. Victor though wants to give the money to the authorities. When a park ranger gets shot, things turn deadly for the trio as Miller dressed like a Metallica roadie, pursues them.

It really is sad to see John Cusack reduced to appearing in these low budget VOD films. It was only a few years ago he was in big budget disaster film such as 2012. He plays a darkly comic role of someone who does not want to hurt anyone, he just wants his money.

Blood Money is an updated version of Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It adds a femme fatale character in Lynn, it seems her two best friends have never noticed her conniving side.

The film is rubbish though, cheap, flat looking, it only comes to life at the latter stages. When the action starts it is in a dark tunnel and you cannot see anything but it saved on the budget.

I enjoy watching John. I'm not a huge fan, but when I happen across a movie that he's in I usually find it enjoyable. He's from my era and reminds me of the high top sneaker, T-shirt, bandana wearing, life sucks crowd back in the day. In this movie it looks like he's been roaming around the woods since the 80's, lol. It's not a bad movie, although if I'd have paid to see it in the theater I may feel differently. However, for a Friday night when nothing else was on, this was pretty enjoyable. Lynn is that selfish girl everyone knows, yes the one that is OK when she's getting what she wants, but when things aren't going her way it's everybody else's fault. She sees money and goes hog wild believing it will solve all her ills, but like in most movies, greed corrupts and destroys. Cusacks character is odd, he goes around killing people somewhat accidentally, seems immediately remorseful, but then, just as quickly, oh well. LOL. Lynn becomes more and more ruthless as she becomes more and more desperate, after all she has to fully commit at this point. That piece seems a bit much, but still It's worth a watch IMHO.

Well, I finished it. But really. How hysterical and insanely weird can one girl get? It was just unbelievable that anyone would behave that way. It became rather laughable. One thing: if you are hiding in the woods from a homicidal man with a gun who is very keen to find you, you do not shout at the top of your voice during an extended and entirely unnecessary argument with yourself. In an echo chamber. And on the subject of characters being believable, what WAS John Cusack? A reluctant killer? Homicidal maniac? White collar worker turned to the dark side? Sweet chap really, who is just a bit clumsy when around guns? Therapist/ psychologist? Make your mind up. I don't know what is going on with Sky movies. It seems they show any old crap in order to fulfil their mission statement to put on a new premiere every day. A Channel 5 afternoon movie at best.

Instead of spoiler alert this is a STINKER alert! Total waste of time. I should have given it 1 star, but because I am a loyal John Cusack fan I couldn't bring myself to do it...Terrible acting, poor plot and very week script. Netflix has it listed as 5 stars just to get you to watch it. If you want a movie to aggravate you this is the one to see. Cusack is good at being bad, but even this movie couldn't bring the goodness out. I don't have any history to compare Willa Fitzgerald's performance to, so it is hard to say if she needs acting lessons, but I can say she made me want to shoot her just to shut her up!

In 1972 a passenger boarded a commercial flight using the name D B Cooper. He parachuted somewhere over the pacific NW with a lot of stolen money and was never seen again. Years later some money was found that was linked to the robbery and really no other clues were ever located. Many have speculated and some have searched for the missing money. This movie obviously uses this event as a basis for the movie. It is a good idea to start but poorly written dialog. The actors minus John Cusack, are not good or believable.