Director: John Barr
Year: 2020
Rated NR
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Tom Berenger, Kristin Hager, Mark Sivertsen
A small crew, a couple of writers, two remote distributors, a rookie director, and an alternate title of Allagash. Hey, it gets the job done in regards to 2020's Blood and Money.
Anyway, Blood and Money is a searingly effective thriller that echos stuff like Cliffhanger, Wind River, and 1998's A Simple Plan. It starts out as a character slow burn only to become unforgiving and coldblooded with each passing increment.
As something about a war veteran (on a hunting trip) who accidentally kills a robber with a bag of money, "Blood" revels in Northern Maine locales and nameless (and almost faceless) villains. Somehow I found the whole survivalist modem here to be very darn fruitful.
Granted, Blood and Money is implausible, time-warped, and lacking in all things A to B ("Blood's" lead in Tom Berenger probably lived longer than he should have). And what's with the weird, surprising ending in which a widowed mother gets a quasi-treasure map that leads to over a million dollars (spoiler alert, sorry).
Oh well. Blood and Money keeps you riveted and cling-ed as Berenger (mentioned in the last paragraph) does his finest work since getting nominated for an Oscar in 1986's Platoon.
Looking weathered, coughing up blood, bemusing frustration, and never giving the audience a reason to think he's even acting, Tommy boy lives the role of old-timer Tom Reed. He chain smokes, shoots to kill (no pun intended), and demonstrates a creaky sort of physicality.
Tom Berenger is in every frame of "Blood" and you tag along with his rustic persona like a long lost puppy. It doesn't matter that his Reed killed his daughter in a drunk driving accident, lives in a Trailer RV, and consumes peanut butter sandwiches on a steady diet. Blood and Money as the antithesis of being unclouded, still "cashes in". Rating: 3 stars.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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