Blood

"What have you done??! What have you done ??!" After a young girl is brutally murdered it is up to a family on the police force to catch the murderer. After all the clues point to one man two brothers go out and find him and bring him in for questioning. After it turns out there isn't enough evidence for trial they push for a confession. When the interrogation goes to far the family is now forced to investigate the crime they committed. This was an interesting idea for a movie and I am usually a fan of the British crime genre so I was looking forward to seeing this. I was not disappointed at all. The movie was a little slow at times but overall it kept me interested and I really liked the character arcs and watching all of them change for better or worse. The cast and acting is great and the movie is tense and entertaining. Fans of this genre will really enjoy this, I know I did. Overall, very much worth seeing and keeps you feeling tense and your not really sure who to root for the entire movie. I give it a B.

BLOOD is the film version of a lengthy BBC miniseries called CONVICTION, in which a pair of detective brothers struggle to cope with the demands of the job while caring for their father who's suffering from dementia. When a young girl is found brutally murdered in the local skate park, her death drives the men over the edge.

Wow, this is one of the darkest movies I've seen in a while. It's almost wrist-slittingly grim, with a cast populated by the mentally ill, perverts, and psychopaths. The film was shot in the Wirral and looks dark and grim throughout, with the only colour that stands out blood red. Depressing scene follows depressing scene, until the final nihilistic climax.

Despite the downbeat nature of the production, this is highly watchable thanks to the talents of a fine cast. Paul Bettany excels as the volatile lead, with Stephen Graham giving a typically assured turn as his stressed-out brother. Brian Cox still shines even in his later years as the elder struggling with memory loss. There are even roles for former comedian Adrian Edmondson and Ben Crompton, best known for his role as one of the Night's Watch in GAME OF THRONES. And I can't say out pleased I am to see Mark Strong NOT typecast as a villain.

The plot is a simple one and yet there's so much incident packed into the scant running time that it ends up being very fast paced with barely room to go out of the room and make a cup of tea. I'm glad it has a short running time too; I'm not sure I would have wanted to sit through hours and hours of this grim story. A British Scandi-noir type thriller, BLOOD deserves plaudits for the work of its cast alone.

Blood is a movie that has a lot going on. It is an enjoyable movie with the cast thats strong and is also easy to understand whats going on, I just feel it does not fit together in certain parts. In this movie paul bettany and stephen grapham play brothers joe and chrissie who are detectives and have to investigate the murder of a young girl, but after something happens they end up investigating a crime that they themselves caused. Brian cox plays lenny their father and is good in his role brian always takes roles well. Mark strong is also in this as a fellow detective and is once again brilliant as always and finally naomi battrick as pauls daughter a strong cast overall with many good elements makes blood a watchable and enjoyable film.

Rarely does a movie come along that slips under the radar of the movie goers of the world that is as poignant as Blood. I know people have a habit of watching Blockbusters and judging all movies based on the salary of the actors and the budget of the film. Blood is proof, yet again, that a movie doesn't have to be high budget to be beyond great. I very rarely rate movies as most people don't really pay much attention to the actual review that is associated with the rating. The entire cast and crew of this movie were exemplary and deserve the accolades that go along with it. I have a new benchmark to base all crime dramas off of now thanks to this great and powerful movie.

Great cast, promising story - but ultimately disappointing.

It did not surprise me to learn that this film was based on a TV series. Over much of the running time I found myself distracted by just how busy the story was. It was one plot point after another, after another, with no space in-between to let the characters (or audience) absorb each of the many developments before proceeding - or to establish a strong sense of mood or location. It seemed as though the makers had condensed into a feature film length a story that was intended to be told over a much longer duration - as though an emotionally balanced story had been harshly edited, leaving just a collection of 'flashpoints.'

With a cast and story this good, Blood could have achieved something as atmospheric and dramatic as Mystic River. Unfortunately though, it felt like one of those British TV crime dramas in which they have to introduce characters, portray a crime, investigate the crime (uncovering a series of disturbing family secrets and dispensing with a couple of red herrings in the process) and arrive at a harrowing (but ultimately just) conclusion, all within the span of a single episode.

An enjoyable, but not especially memorable, film.