Blood Ties review

Back to the streets...

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Gallic actor/director Guillaume Canet delivers his first English effort – a remake of 2008’s Les Liens Du Sang (in which he starred), relocated to 1970s Brooklyn. Co-written with James Gray, it recalls Gray’s We Own The Night , with its story of two brothers – Clive Owen’s ex-con Chris, Billy Crudup’s cop Frank – on opposite sides of the law.

Despite a cracking cast (Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard included) it’s a sprawling, messy movie, nowhere near as lean as Canet’s Tell No One . But wade through all the flares and flare-ups and you’ll be rewarded: the ending is absolutely killer.

Freelance writer

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on 12DOVE and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.