STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
A young girl is found murdered in an English coastal town, and the pressure's on for detective brothers Joe (Paul Bettany) and Chrissie (Stephen Graham) to find the killer. When the prime suspect walks free, Joe and Chrissie abduct him and try to force a confession out of him, in the style of their old school, domineering father Lenny (Brian Cox) in his day, only for things to go wrong. Now, they find themselves trapped in a ticking time bomb, as the net closes in on them, with the diligent Detective Seymour (Mark Strong) putting the pieces together.
Adapted from a TV series called Confession, this noticeably small scale production would have the production values to match it's source material. In spite of this, there some undeniably top rate, modern talent at work here that had the potential to really shine if their ability really matched what they were given to work with. Sadly, rather than keep you really riveted with what's going on and how it's going to turn out, Blood simply chugs along in a perfunctory manner, never having the bite or the spark to make the most of what it is. It's biggest mistake is probably killing off the mystery element, and instead of leaving you to guess whether the brothers really did it, puts you in on the act from the beginning Columbo style.
As stated, this thoroughly low key piece has a top name cast to it, the kind that never abandoned artistic integrity for cheap selling out, and they still invest their all in it, with strong turns from Bettany and an explosive Graham, even if his cockney accent is over-powered (as in every other such role he's played) at times by his strong scouse brogue. Even in a supporting role, Cox still possesses a presence and intensity that allows him to shine through. Sadly, none of their superior thesping can save this hollow and undelivering piece. **
A young girl is found murdered in an English coastal town, and the pressure's on for detective brothers Joe (Paul Bettany) and Chrissie (Stephen Graham) to find the killer. When the prime suspect walks free, Joe and Chrissie abduct him and try to force a confession out of him, in the style of their old school, domineering father Lenny (Brian Cox) in his day, only for things to go wrong. Now, they find themselves trapped in a ticking time bomb, as the net closes in on them, with the diligent Detective Seymour (Mark Strong) putting the pieces together.
Adapted from a TV series called Confession, this noticeably small scale production would have the production values to match it's source material. In spite of this, there some undeniably top rate, modern talent at work here that had the potential to really shine if their ability really matched what they were given to work with. Sadly, rather than keep you really riveted with what's going on and how it's going to turn out, Blood simply chugs along in a perfunctory manner, never having the bite or the spark to make the most of what it is. It's biggest mistake is probably killing off the mystery element, and instead of leaving you to guess whether the brothers really did it, puts you in on the act from the beginning Columbo style.
As stated, this thoroughly low key piece has a top name cast to it, the kind that never abandoned artistic integrity for cheap selling out, and they still invest their all in it, with strong turns from Bettany and an explosive Graham, even if his cockney accent is over-powered (as in every other such role he's played) at times by his strong scouse brogue. Even in a supporting role, Cox still possesses a presence and intensity that allows him to shine through. Sadly, none of their superior thesping can save this hollow and undelivering piece. **