Film Review: Blood Ties

Matthias Schoenaerts, left, and Zoe Saldana in a scene from Blood Ties. Roadside Attractions / AP Photo

Blood Ties

Director: Guillaume Canet

Starring: Clive Owen, Zoe Saldana, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, James Caan

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On paper, Blood Ties sounds full of life. There are enough stars to make a galaxy jealous: Clive Owen and Billy Crudup play brothers whose chosen occupations were always likely to cause friction – one is an armed robber and the other is a cop. James Caan is their cancer-suffering dad, while Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard play the heartbreakers. It’s directed by the French actor-turned-director Guillaume Canet, who proved himself a master of the crime genre with his brilliant 2006 adaptation of Harlan Coben’s Tell No One. Yet somewhere along the way – most likely between the wardrobe and make-up departments, where so much effort has been made to recreate the look of 1974 New York – this police procedural coagulates. While American Hustle successfully transfused the spirit of the New Hollywood /Scorsese era, Blood Ties, despite pumping out some exhilarating action sequences, ends up becoming a cliché-ridden work.