User Reviews

A group of three college age friends go out and do the outdoor thing. There is drama and conflict within this threesome of two guys and one girl. Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald) has issues with the world that started in puberty. They find bags of stolen money belonging to John Cusack and he wants it all back. Lynn is determined to keep it and drags the guys into trouble.

The film created four characters with Cusack (the guy with the gun) being the most likable and logical. It tried to create intensity, but the film gave you a teaser opener so we know where the film goes. It is a film I could get half engaged with.

Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.

In the bonus track of the DVD of "Blood Money," the film's director described his main theme of greed and "how far it will push someone." At first glance, the character who is motivated by greed is Mr. Miller (John Cusack), who does a D.B. Cooper impersonation by bailing out of an airplane with bags full of eight million dollars. But, as the film progresses, it becomes clear that the deeper incarnation of greed is in the college student named Lynn (Cheetah), who is transformed into a monster.

In the interviews with the cast on the DVD behind-the-scenes segment, actress Willa Fitzgerald noted the "ugly levels of humanity" uncovered in her character due to the allure of the money that she finds on a rafting expedition with two friends. The film starts with the two young men (Vic and Jeff) departing on their outing with Lynn without a care in the world. But the discovery of the money leads to conflicting responses about what to do with the treasure.

As described in the bonus track of the DVD, the filmmakers wanted three different character responses to the money: (1) return it (Vic), (2) leave it alone (Jeff), or (3) keep it (Lynn). While pursued by the incompetent embezzler (played with some sly humor by Cusack), the three youngsters come into conflict due to their different perspectives on what to do with the money. It turns out that the alpha female Lynn will be the catalyst for a transformation of the group that resembles the boys on the island in "Lord of the Flies."

The character of Lynn (Cheetah) is best described by Mr. Miller as "entitled, embittered, and angry." Actress Willa Fitzgerald noted that her role was an expression of "something new as a woman in film." But as a dramatic character, there was nothing new in Lynn since the creation of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth when a basically decent character succumbs to the temptation of greed that leads to evil actions.

In this film, the evil was effectively juxtaposed with the beautiful environment of the woods and the river in the location filming around Savannah, Georgia. While "Blood Money" lacked a dynamic ending, it was nonetheless a well-crafted and suspenseful morality play with a fine set of performances.

203. Blood Money. After 20 minutes or so, I was like, I dunno this may be a total crapfest, but then some character development happened and it wasn't that bad, even a nice brutal ending. :) So at the same time a trio is getting back together for a raft ride down a river, we see a dude jumping out of a small plane with bags. Plane crashes, bags fall in river, man parachutes to safety and goes hunting for the bags. I know, its a tough one to figure out, is it the same river, you bet your ass it is, does the trio of friends find it first, well duh. So the trio of friends two dudes one girl, past relationship jealousies, you betcha. And when the money is found, ahh everyone's true colors pop out. Victor sees logic and says, money is stolen, its being tracked, turn it in. Jeff was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and doesn't need it, however...Lynn is currently satisfying his, uh, emotional needs, and she wants too keep the money and run. And then there's Miller (John Cusack) kinda just wandering around in the woods looking for the money that he jumped out of the plane with. And i mean just wandering... he's never really in that much of a hurry to get the cash back... Victor actually stumbles upon him catching some ZZZ's on a long abandoned picnic table... Couldn't tell if it was bad acting, writing or directing but. But in the end, its just fun watching seemingly nice people turn evil over money. Peace.

Generally, when I spend bucks on any DVD or Blu-ray, I check out the director. Lucky McGee, who helmed the unforgettable horror chiller "May" (2002), seemed like a safe bet. I've heard of his other movie "Red." Meantime, John Cusack's presence in McGee's wilderness crime thriller "Blood Money," co-scripted by freshman scribes Jared Butler and Lars Norberg, appeared like a suitable no-brainer at 85 minutes. Wow, was I ever more wrong! This outdoors epic lensed on location in Georgia qualified as a complete waste of time. John Cusack looks like he is following in the footsteps of his "Frozen Ground" co-star Nicholas Cage. "Blood Money" was absolutely abysmal. The characters are a group of brain-dead morons. Three twentysomething nitwits who attended high school together set out to go rafting. Enough drama crops up among them to fuel a better movie. Unfortunately, Cusack enters the action early as a pilot who bails out of his single-engine plane. Of course, the plane crashes and this ignites a manhunt. Some say that they saw a parachute, too. Miller (John Cusack) is a bank of some sort, though we are never told exactly what he did. Anyway, he embezzled something like $ 8-million and stuffed it into oversized garbage bags. When he jumped out of the plane, he let the bags free fall. Mind you, crashing a plane to make a clean getaway doesn't seem very smart. The authorities will sift through the wreckage and find no evidence of a body. If this is not enough, Miller loses track of his money bags, and the three twentysomethings, Victor (Ellar Coltrane of "The Circle"), Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald of "Freak Show"), and Jeff (Jacob Artist of "White Bird in a Blizzard") discover the loot floating in the river where they are rafting. Eventually, they run into the woebegone Miller who asks for a cigarette. They shun his presence. Sadly, he figures out that they have his money. A Park Ranger dies after Miller gets his hands on the officer's handgun. The four of them thrash through the underbrush with Miller in pursuit, and Lynn makes it clear to the guys acting like knights that she doesn't need their interference. Walking around in the woods has never been this monotonous. The ending-aside from being the last part of this miserable piece of crap-is the best thing about "Blood Money." Don't be mislead by the cover picture on the Blu-Ray, Cusack has a high-powered assault rifle in his clutches. He couldn't shoot his way out of wet sack. Clearly, this was a paycheck epic for Cusack. Characterization is rather slim, but of all the characters, Lynn turns out to be the most interesting. Save your time and your money and look for something else!

Blood money is a relatively straight forward thriller about a girl and two guys who find millions of dollars while camping in the woods. The problem is that the thief who stole the money wants it back. Another issue is that the friendship begins to unravel as soon as the money appears and in the end the three friends are their own worst enemies.

The acting is decent enough but most of the characters are extremely unlikable and keep making dumb decisions. The girl is manipulative bordering on psychotic and will do anything for the money. Her current boyfriend is dumb and goes along with whatever the girl wants and the third guy was her ex and just doesn't want the money but doesn't seem to realize that everyone else will do anything to keep it. The most interesting of the characters is the criminal played by John Cusack but even his actions are inexplicable at times eg losing the money and then spending the next day not really actively looking for it but strolling through the woods. He also seems to have no clue about tracking yet he keeps on locating the people who stole his loot.

The end of the movie is supposed to be a big twist but is just unrealistic, predictable, annoying and unoriginal. Overall it's a weak story and a forgettable film.

Watched this purely because my favourite actor stars in it which is Jog Cusack. The girl however in this movie, well she is so so so annoying and there is no reason why. I know money has it's part but she was a b##ch before that. So much anger and the end well just should not have happened. Would you murder for money???

Lets Start off- I love John Cusack. But this movie was painful to watch. Three unlikable characters with no chemistry not worth naming, John Cusack as some weird nomad guy, and a bunch of stolen money all running around a state park. There is a bunch of nonsensical conversation, random outbursts of anger and violence, bizarre reactions, and unbelievable motivated scenes. Then only thing that keeps the viewers vaguely grounded is that they are fighting over money. The Ending leaves you with no spark or emotion, and you kind of just wish everyone died. This is rare advice from me, but skip this one.

In the mid-80s John Cusak was making it big. By his fourth listed film on imdb he was in a lead role and on his way to stardom. Ten years later he was at the top with some of the biggest hits of his career. Then after the new millennia began his career dropped. The movies he was making were still good and his acting abilities were still great. But the movies he was making weren't doing well.

For some reason of late Cusak has taken on roles in movies far beneath his abilities. Most have gone straight to DVD. But in each he never stops offering a solid performance in whatever role he's given. This has happened with several stars and I've never understood why. I'm left believing that a lot of it has to do with ageism, a prejudice against stars who are no longer their young selves. Rather than, as in the past, allow stars to age gracefully and continue making movies with roles for them to be featured in, Hollywood seems intent on featuring nothing but young new actors.

Had that been the case in the past imagine all that we would have lost. No Bogart in THE AFRICAN QUEEN. No Cary Grant in NORTH BY NORTHWEST. So many great performances would have not existed. Rather than a middle aged James Bond we'd have had the latest teen heartthrob in the role. The thing is this. When you see John Cusak's name on the cover of a DVD the odds are these days it won't be as good a film as he's done in the past. But his performance will be.

Which brings us to BLOOD MONEY. The movie is actually better than you would think. Three college age friends set out for a river trip, reuniting after time spent away at school. Victor (Ellar Coltrane) has remained behind in their hometown working minimum wage jobs. Jeff (Jacob Artist) comes from a wealthy family and is doing well. And Lynn (Willa Fitzgerald) is still running, her athletic scholarship keeping her in college. Having had a leg injury she's still not on top but she's mending and working out.

With memories of their past in hand they three best friends head to the forest and river to spend the weekend, reliving their shared time together. Victor still pines for Lynn, the girl he knew growing up with and who he fell in love for. But unbeknownst to Victor, Jeff and Lynn have become an item, something he will learn along the way.

At the same time their journey begins we witness someone parachute from a small plane, dropping a package at the same time. The plane, unattended, crashes and the individual and package are separated, the package falling into the river. This is Miller (Cusak), a man trying to leave the world behind whose path will cross with the three friends.

It is Lynn who discovers the package dropped by Miller, bags containing $80 million dollars. Victor believes they should contact the police. Jeff is willing to go along with whatever Lynn says. But it is Lynn who becomes the most changed person when presented with the opportunity for all of this money. Her greed takes control and like the figure of Gollum from the RINGS trilogy she covets the money more than anything in the world. The contest for who gets the money, whether Miller is able to get his money back and what each is willing to do for what they want forms the basis for this movie.

The film isn't just about greed though that plays a major role in the proceedings. As much on that topic it's also about desperation. Each of the characters has some form of that moving them forward. For Victor it is his hope of reuniting with Lynn, something that happened before she left for college. For Jeff it is winning the affections of Lynn for himself. For Miller it is the chance to take his ill-gotten gains and remove himself from society. But it is Lynn who is revealed to be the most desperate of the four characters. It is Lynn who is changed by the money more than any other. Just how far and if she is willing to lose herself completely to it, moves this movie to its conclusion.

Cusak, the heavy this time, does a solid job here while not really being the central character. His part here feels more like a role he took on to pay back someone of to get a paycheck. That doesn't mean he doesn't perform well, just that this is not like past leading roles he would have taken on. Both Artist and Coltrane do a good job here as well, making their characters believable. But it is Fitzgerald who shines here. With each passing moment this young woman who would normally play out as a victim in most films becomes more frightening than that of what we assume to be a criminal and killer. That she accomplishes this slowly displaying pieces of her character one at a time is a credit to her skills.

The movie is definitely not a major blockbuster styled film but it does offer a nice showcase for all involved. It's also not a bad movie on the whole and will entertain from start to finish. So if you're looking for something to rent this week then this one might not be a bad choice.

The basic plot of this movie - people finding a large amount of money and soon find themselves on the run by the owner of the movie - has indeed be done a number of times before. But it's still a compelling plot even after all these years, so I can understand why these particular filmmakers decided to do their own version of this plot. But I suspect that the filmmakers were also depending on the audience, who would be familiar with the plot, to fill in the gaps that they were unable to do themselves. There is a loose, often sloppy feeling to the narrative here, almost as if the filmmakers were not working with a completed script and were making things up as they went along.

Still, despite the jumbled feeling to the narrative, the movie could still have worked, being thrilling and giving insight to the dark side of humanity. But the movie doesn't work in those areas as well. It takes almost half of the movie before things turn dark and dangerous for the central characters. Before that happens, we have to sit through them whining, fighting, and acting selfish. (As it turns out, they keep acting this way through the rest of the movie as well!) It's not that I immediately object to the characters being that way - it's the fact that it's not depicted in an interesting or compelling manner. The characters will instead make you greatly annoyed.

As for John Cusack... with this movie, he finds himself further down in the direct to video hell he has been stuck in for several years. Although he has shown to be a good actor in other movies, he is simply not good here. Miscasting him as a ruthless bad guy certainly hurts, but Cusack himself makes things worse by giving a very bored and phoned-in performance. There is nothing scary about the character he is playing, who should have been ruthless and tough.

To sum up, there is pretty much nothing here to make the movie worth a watch, even if you see it for free on Netflix (where I saw it.) See the movies "Cas$h" or "Night of the Running Man" instead for far better takes on this formula.

First bit of the movie seemed quite good, three not so experienced campers find stolen money from a man trying to fake his own death in a plane crash. When Cusack got the guns from the ranger thats when all realism went out the window. Using the rifle he fires at the three college kids paddling down a river with the money. A camera shot through the scope of his rifle shows hes firing about chest level at them. When the camera shows them you see bullets hitting the water around the paddle boat, next to them. A wide shot from Cusack to the paddlers showed them about 200 yards away which is what most hunting rifles are dialed in to. So, the bullets should have stuck the water far beyond the boat considering he missed. Near the end of the movie the friends find a tunnel and use it to escape from the criminal. Cusack finds the tunnel and the college students. He then fires multiple shots in the tunnel and in the abandoned factory it leads to. Guns are very loud, ecspecially when in confined spaces, deafening in fact. They all seem unphased by the sound and talk in a normal voice. These people should have been deaf for some time afterwards.

Good idea but a horrible execution of it. Poor acting even by John Cusack. The action scenes look like something from a High School play. The ending....one of the campers walks away with most of the money. God is she a horrible, horrible person. She kills BOTH of her camping friends and John Cusack and is not sorry about any of it. There is some feminist bs in it too. Just trust me on this one and don't waste your time on it. Oh and they set it up for a sequel too. Whatever.