Blood Ties

2014 "Crime runs in the family."
6.5| 2h8m| R| en
Details

Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.

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Reviews

Pluskylang Great Film overall
Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Floated2 Blood Ties sets the standard as a film taken place during the 1970's. The basics, Chris (Clive Owen) is just out of the joint, trying to go straight and essentially do right by his cop brother Frank (Billy Crudup), but he's got a messy past to deal with, including making amends with Monica (Marion Cotillard), a prostitute and mother to his children. Meanwhile, Chris falls into a relationship with Natalie (Mila Kunis), a girl he meets during a stint working at a garage. Frank tries desperately to vouch for his brother to his cop pals, who suspect he's going fall back into the life of crime, while he enters a romance with Vanessa (Zoe Saldana), an ex-girlfriend whose boyfriend Scarfo (Matthias Schoenaerts) he recently busted and sent to jail. Blood Ties does take quite a while to make an impression but the does get interesting in it's final 40 minutes or so. It may be a slow film, but the characters and acting performances from the cast make up for its redundant plots, and lack of plot holes.
lois-lane33 Probably one of the biggest if not the biggest box office flop that has been produced in recent memory. I think they also inflated the budget figures for this movie-maybe so they could justify lavish suites and rented Lambos for everyone involved with the project-who knows. I think what they tried to cash in on was the idea that all things concerning the 1970's cinematographically are a guaranteed shoe in for financial success-based on the idea that the demographic for film goers revolves mostly-now-around people born after the 1970's: when the truth of the demographic is probably more along the lines of most fans of film who will either go to see a film like this or buy a DVD like this are frequently older than 80's baby boomer's. I also have never witnessed such a weak performance from Clive Owen. Maybe he was just taking dull direction from a director dealing with a lifeless script. Again-who knows. I didn't watch the film past the 30 minute mark because nothing had really happened in that time period-as in it was essentially uneventful and boring the entire time I was watching it. I think there were also scripting errors: as in at one point Clive Owen's character bangs his head repeatedly against a wall right in front of his boss (after his boss tells him to stop talking and get back to work) after he was given a job-after being released from prison-and then CO's character just walks of the job by way of taking off in the friends car. Good-bye job. One phone call and that would be it for CO's character. Basically the film would just end there-if it was following anything remotely resembling reality aka the 1970's. A surprisingly poor effort like a trip to Total Dullsville.
Claudio Carvalho In 1974, in New York, the criminal Chris (Clive Owen) is released from prison and his younger brother Frank (Billy Crudup), who is a honest police officer, brings him home expecting that Chris is regenerated. However after an incident, Chris returns to the life of crime, affecting Frank's career and the lives of his ex-wife Monica (Marion Cotillard) and his present wife Natalie (Mila Kunis). But when Chris discovers that the criminal Scarfo (Matthias Schoenaerts) wants to kill Frank that is living with his ex-wife Vanessa (Zoe Saldana), he has to decide whether he flees or save his brother's life."Blood Ties" is a movie with an impressive cast and set decoration, including several cars from the 70's. Unfortunately the story is an unoriginal soap opera that wastes the cast. There are many movies with brothers on the opposite sides of the law and the screenplay of "Blood Ties" is not engaging and does not hold the attention of the viewer. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Laços de Sangue" ("Blood Ties")
drunkardswalk I don't get it. We are supposed to be engaged by the complex relationship and moral dilemmas of these two brothers. But most of the other reviewers (and presumably the filmmakers) don't seem to be bothered by the fact that one of them is a murderous sociopath. This is kind of a deal breaker for me in terms of empathy. And yet, the same brother chooses to spare the life of a man who is an obvious existential threat to his family. Stupid script, hackneyed premise, overstuffed soundtrack, and ridiculous casting, including two lead female actresses (Cotillard and Kunis) who look so similar as to be occasionally confusing. Amateur foreign film making masquerading as a tribute to 70's American crime drama. Viewers would do better by sticking with the real thing, for instance: Mean Streets (art); The Friends of Eddie Coyle (slick); Superfly (genuine American trash). Any of these would be a much more fulfilling and enjoyable use of 2 hours.