Blood and Money

...and I don't mean Tom Berenger as much as the movie itself. I suppose "Blood Money" was taken, so things were really freshened up with that "and" in the middle. The movie turned out to be as derivative as its name, besides the snowy and cold setting it ain't got much going on for it. In his full feature debut, John Barr seems to have optioned for imitating many other, better thrillers, because the story of "Blood and Money" is familiar, predictable, slowly dull and seriously uninspired.

Tom Berenger gives us Jim Reed - a grizzled, seen-it-all Vietnam war veteran with traumas in his past, and in his twilight years. Jim's spending his days in Northern Maine, hunting and trying not to drink, but things start going south when he stumbles upon a dead woman's body and a big bag full of cash. "Blood and Money" doesn't try to invent or reinvent anything, and is aware of it, but that doesn't help it much. Throughout its 85 minute runtime it feels like watching a film that's constantly trying to find heart, emotion, tension, but somehow manages to achieve the opposite, feeling dry, heartless in execution and completely devoid of surprises. In process, the pacing suffered greatly.

There are many odd flaws in the writing, I couldn't figure out why some characters do what they do, the motivation/response sometimes appeared to be unclear, unreasoned. Despite Jim Reed seemingly trying to do good, he did more questionable things, to say the least. An anti-hero? If so, still a shabby one. Berenger's seem to be a good fit for such a role, and does his best at channeling Jim Reed's world-weariness and the years of hardships on his shoulders. "Blood and Money" is mostly a one man's show, but the script only allows Tom to do so much.

Clearly, it's a B movie, and perhaps even a passion project. Cinematography doesn't exactly excel, but it's shot thoughtfully and tastefully enough, and the locations (Maine's endless forests, rural small town's aesthetic, snowy hills and caves, etc.) do a big part of the work, though explored on a level I'd call underwhelming. The action, as little of it as there was, also called for mixed feelings. If they tried for realism, they kind of missed the mark.

No matter how much I tried to get into it, the writing and pacing kept their offense, and the sum is such that I can't even really recommend this movie, except for die-hard fans of Tom Berenger and/or films set in wintery locations. My rating: 4/10.

Tom Berenger really does a good job of an old, slow dying man who limps his way through his final few days.

As for the movie... if this had been a 'Nordic' film with a Nordic cast this would probably have been better received... as it is, it's an American film, so the jury haven't been so kind.

It's a film of two halves and the first half is brilliant. A great sense of atmosphere and the cold, FREEZING outdoors! The direction jumps around quickly to set up the location and the characters.

The second half turns into a routine slugfest between the good guy (Tom) and some silly men who are after some stolen money. It's a wonder how they pulled off this heist at all, given that they are all stupid and all prone to make stupid decisions!

I saw it through to the end because it started off so well, and I like Tom... but by the end I was a bit annoyed.

I'm a fan of Tom Berenger so watched the whole 85 minutes of this movie. There is little dialogue and the 5 or 6 characters (Tom included) earn their money by simply walking around in the snow and shooting at each other. Tom tries very hard to be a tired and sickly old timer, Jim Reed, but it is painful to watch this excellent actor in such a crappy role. Clint could have done this better. He's older than Tom. This movie could have been edited to 60 minutes tops. It's terribly tedious and slow.

It starts slow, but reasonably. Yet once the 'action' starts, all logic goes out the window. It's like the filmmakers decided to re-write the script once they got on location and the cold froze their brains.

Was it written by a bunch of high schoolers? The amount of stupid, unnatural, forced and illogical steps the characters take is an insult to the audience and all who are in it. Particularly our old man Tom. And he does seem very old. He should have skipped the trip, driven home and drank a cup of soup.

Actually this boring, lame movie rips off a far better film with it's plot twisting act, being The Aura from 2005. Watch that instead. Even if they went on location without a script they could have come up with something more realistic. You have to blame the director for sticking to the script. The only redeeming quality is the location. And the photography. 5 is generous. Lame as a dementia ridden chipmunk with frostbite.

Yeah, I know what you thought when you checked the title. "Another Berenger sell-out." How I loved to hate him in Platoon - he is, after Gregory Peck, the greatest living Ahab (as of this writing). So, for this film... you will be pleasantly surprised.

Mr. Berenger (Jim Reed) actually gets to carry the bulk of the movie! That's right, you only get the glammy sell-out corn near the end, and even then only for a few scenes (essentially, wherever the dialog is overpowered by the f-bomb - I'm no prude, but - come on - get a thesaurus!).

So, you actually get Mr. Berenger at an advanced age playing a somewhat suitable character. While I believe the role is still perhaps ten years ago for most actors, Mr. Berenger plays it eloquently (with just the proper count of sighs, groans, and moans - take this from an old guy). I believe him, and I see echoes of Sgt. Barnes in his demeanor.

If the powers-that-be of this film had allowed Mr. Berenger to play it straight, in character, to the end, they might have had an "art film" on their hands. Such a shame.

Still. Bravo, Maestro. Bravo.

-S