Review: Blood Money

Thrillers involving friends who find bags of money that in turn causes the worst behavior to come out have one crucial ingredient needed...for you to care about the people involved. This is the fatal error that Lucky McKee's Blood Money makes, pitting three unlikeable people against themselves and a bored-looking John Cusack.

Whilst on a white water rafting trip, Victor (Ellar Coltrane), Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald), and Jeff (Jacob Artist) find several bags of money that belong to Miller (John Cusack). We know this because we see Miller jump out of an airplane with the money and almost no food or water. Right off the bat this guy is clearly no mastermind. Lynn is particularly taken by the bags of money, having recently lost her college scholarship. She sees an opportunity and quickly changes from a bland co-ed to a bland maniac driven by greed. She begins to use Victor and Jeff in order to get out of the wilderness with the money. Soon however, Miller realizes who has his money and a chase ensues.

Despite having some pleasant scenery, Blood Money doesn't have much to offer. The plot is not unlike the hardly seen classic A Simple Plan from director Sam Raimi. Unlike that film, we don't understand the motivations of the characters. Miller is kept a mystery. We never learn how he came to get $8 million and we never learn what his ultimate plan is with the money. Lynn flips so quickly into a greed driven monster that it is hard to believe the character. The two men vying for her love are undefined polar opposites on a scale of masculinity, Jeff being rather macho while Victor the bruised, sensitive one. 

The acting in the film is uniformly uninspired. Director McKee made the excellent horror film May. This film feels very far away from that film in story, tone, and style. I have to wonder if this was a director-for-hire situation. It would certainly explain why the film feels so dispassionate. Jared Butler and Lars Norberg's script doesn't help. They have written characters you simply can't root for or care about. This is essential in a tale so wrought with morals. The film screams its message that money is the root of all evil. In the end, the film reveals it doesn't know who it ever wanted the audience to identify with. Forgettable and dull, skip this film and go rent A Simple Plan instead. 

1/5