Blood Ties, film review: Despite hints of power, this crime movie's ties don't always bind
(15) Guillaume Canet, 125 mins Starring: Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Blood Ties may be a remake of a French movie but it plays like the director Guillaume Canet's homage to 1970s American crime drama, shot through with references to everything from Mean Streets to The Godfather and The French Connection.
In its lesser moments, the film is overwrought and derivative but, at its best, it has a real flavour of Friedkin, Coppola and Scorsese. The performances are wildly uneven, an inevitability given that there are British, Belgian, French and American actors all playing hard-bitten New Yorkers.
Clive Owen's character, Chris, a ne'er-do-well fresh out of prison, is like an older version of Robert De Niro's Johnny Boy in Mean Streets. He has a fraught, Cain and Abel-like relationship with his brother Frank (Billy Crudup), a cop who despises his lawless ways.
Canet goes to great lengths to recreate 1970s New York. There are some raw and powerful moments here – Owen banging his head against an iron pole in a bid to curb his own violent instincts, James Caan as the boys' father telling them grim stories about their errant mother.
The chases and heists are staged in brutally effective fashion and some of the Method acting – especially that of Flemish star Matthias Schoenaerts – registers strongly. There are also scenes which lurch into crude, soap opera-style melodrama. Blood Ties is an uneven film but one that could well develop cult status.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments