Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Blood Ties Blu-ray Movie Review

Thicker than slaughter?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 21, 2014

The marketing hype surrounding Blood Ties suggest it’s an “edge of your seat thriller”, a description that will probably only ring true if you consider roiling family dysfunction and star-crossed love affairs “thrilling”. Co-writer and director Guillaume Canet made some waves on this side of the pond with his take on Hitchcockian suspense with the generally quite effective Tell No One, and interestingly actually starred in the original French version of this film, a 2009 Jacques Maillot effort entitled Les Liens du Sang. Despite running quite a bit longer than its progenitor, Blood Ties has an oddly lurching quality to it which suggests some salient information may have been left on the cutting room floor, which in turn begs the question, in favor of what? For an ostensible “thriller”, Blood Ties is curiously lacking in either suspense or action, and instead tends to play out like a neo-modern reinterpretation of those hoary old Warner Brothers films where two brothers or friends grow up on opposite sides of the law. The film is nonetheless notable for a nicely rumpled and occasionally vicious star turn by Clive Owen as recently released murder convict Chris Pierzynski, a guy who seems to have noble intentions at least some of the time, but whose life story has spiraled out of control and continues to dribble away down the drain as the film progresses. Chris is paroled into the care of his distant and curt brother Frank (Billy Crudup), a New York City cop who alternates between scowling at Chris and tentatively attempting to help him forge a new life outside of the joint. Blood Ties takes place in a somewhat squalid mid-seventies timeframe, and while there’s no outright allusion to American made cop films set in this same period (The French Connection, Serpico), in some ways the film’s most successful element is its recreation of an era, one which might be seen as a sort of smarmy underbelly of a somewhat similar but flashier production design seen in American Hustle.

Blood Ties begins with an adrenaline pumping sequence that sees a bunch of New York City cops bursting into some sort of den of iniquity, immediately engaging in a nasty and bloody gunfight that nonetheless doesn’t bring all of the intended targets to justice, as evidently some bad guys escape out a bathroom window. One of the unfortunates who didn’t manage to get out is laconic but obviously intense ex-convict Anthony Scarfo (Matthias Schoenaerts), whose girlfriend Vanessa (Zoe Saldana) exchanges some stolen glances with Frank during the arrest. Even Frank’s partner notices, and asks Frank if there’s some history between the two.

The film then segues to what is obviously a rather awkward family reunion, as Frank and sister Marie (Lili Taylor) pick up Chris from the penitentiary. Marie has unabashed affection for Chris, but it’s apparent that there’s some simmering tension between the two brothers, and it’s here that Blood Ties begins to stumble a bit. There’s a palpable distance between Chris and Frank, as portrayed by Owen and Crudup, but there’s very little of any palpable family bond between them, something that tends to undercut the shifting allegiances and conflicts each of the two brothers is supposed to feel as various events unfold. Aside from their obvious physical differences, the two actors often appear to be acting in different universes, and not one of the supposed Pierzynski family’s accents match each other, further debilitating an already wobbly premise. This extends even to the usually reliable James Caan, who is on hand as the Pierzynski pater familias, a crusty elder who’s down to one lung due to a lifetime of smoking, but who nonetheless urges his kids to drop him off at a convenience mart once he’s out of the hospital so that he can buy more cigarettes.

Adding into the general melodrama of two siblings on opposite sides of the law are two subplots involving the brothers’ romantic escapades. It does in fact turn out that there’s history between Vanessa and Frank, and Frank is quick to put the moves on Vanessa after Anthony is temporarily jailed on a gun charge. Meanwhile, Chris actually tries to play it straight, getting a job as a janitor at a body shop where he meets the slightly neurotic Natalie (Mila Kunis), slowly forging a relationship with her. Chris is also dealing with his drug addicted prostitute wife Monica (Marion Cotillard), just in case all of the foregoing doesn’t quite fill the soap operatic fuel tank for some viewers.

The odd thing about Blood Ties is that there’s both too much and too little to ever generate appropriate momentum. The film is virtually stuffed to the gills with interlocking characters and plot threads, so much so that the film feels like a carnival ride at times as it careens from relationship to relationship, with virtually none of them being healthy. But on the flip side, there’s some really unhelpful editing and screenwriting here that tends to make the viewer infer information rather than providing it outright. Early in the film, there’s a jump cut that suddenly has Chris in Natalie’s apartment, with absolutely no preparation given, and it takes a while for the viewer to realize that their relationship has obviously deepened. This is just one example out of many where either the original screenplay was lacking or information was deemed irrelevant or unimportant and was simply discarded somewhere in the editing process.

What remains is a sometimes involving piece that works better as a family drama than as a thriller. Without giving away too many plot details, Chris’ attempts to go straight don’t work as planned, and Frank has to decide how involved he wants to be with Chris’ shenanigans. All sorts of drama unfolds involving the various love relationships, especially once Anthony Scarfo gets wind of Frank and Vanessa’s affair, and things catapult to a fairly predictable conclusion, albeit with one or two set pieces providing incremental excitement along the way (it must be stated that it’s just a little funny to see car chases around Manhattan with such clunky, huge mid-seventies sedans). One of the best things about this film is Clive Owens’ performance, even if his accent is highly variable. His Chris is a wounded soldier struggling to keep his head above the rapids. Owens manages to capture both Chris’ vulnerability and his nastier disposition, and in so doing gives Blood Ties some desperately needed energy.

Note: For a somewhat more positive take on Blood Ties, see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

Blood Ties Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blood Ties is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with the usually quite excellent Arri Alexa, this is a sometimes drab and relatively soft looking high definition presentation, one that's also somewhat lacking in clearly delineated contrast. The result is certainly decently defined, but just not quite at the level of crispness and clarity that some might prefer. One of the interesting things about this presentation is its unusual color grading. Instead of the typical blue that seems to be de rigeur for thrillers nowadays, Blood Ties opts for a kind of sickly yellow ambience at times that adds a jaundiced pallor to fleshtones and a kind of slightly syrupy look to some of the Manhattan locations. While contrast issues keep some of the interior sequences from ever totally popping, overall detail is well above average, and in brightly lit moments fine detail is excellent. There are no problems with image stability or compression artifacts.

Blood Ties Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blood Ties' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has the appropriate punch and bombast in the film's set pieces, including the frightening opening gun melée, and later such elements as an arson fire and car chase. Canet perhaps unwisely stuffs the film full of source cues to the point that they become distracting after a while, though they do fill the surrounds quite nicely and with excellent fidelity. Dialogue is cleanly presented and dynamic range is very wide throughout the film. No issues of any kind crop up in this problem free track.

Blood Ties Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 26:22) is a standard issue EPK that does have some interesting looks at sequences being filmed.

Blood Ties Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the stranger things about Blood Ties is how bloated it often feels despite editing choices which leave at least temporary gaps in the storytelling process. Had the film been shaped more convincingly, its somewhat askew combination of family dynamics and crime thriller may have been more palatable. As it stands, the film features an impressive Clive Owen and some good supporting work from Kunis, though Crudup and Cotillard don't really seem to have much connection to their characters. Technical merits are generally quite strong here, though the look of this film is on the soft side.