Cannes 2013: Blood Ties Review

rating: 2,5

After initially sticking to native language films like Tell No One and Little White Lies, actor/director Guillaume Canet makes his debut with the starry Blood Ties. The inspiration points were obvious from the minute the first images were teased: it's a crime drama steeped in 1970s American crime films and while it's far from a successful film, there is certain something to be said about its fidelity to that homage. Unfortunately at times the sparse moments of brilliance mean that it's too often easier to just think the film is derivative rather than respectful in homage, which is frustrating given that there are touches of Coppola and Scorsese about thep place. They're just too far and far between to be really definitive. The acting is good enough, but the script is a problem, and there's just not enough to draw out real performances, even from such a talented cast, and the overall feeling is that Canet has embarked on an exercise in empty eulogising for a genre and a time that should probably stay dead, if this is an advert for its virtues. Sluggish, boring and painfully insistent of its own cool, you suspect, it's not a high point for anyone involved, sadly.