Touches You

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Great actors, interesting (though it could go anywhere, but it took plenty of intriguing turns) premise, okay cinematography, yes, yes, yes... bút: 'Blood' failed quite miserably all in all.The main problem is that there is so much crammed into only ninety minutes that it is simply impossible to take. All of the ideas have potential, but hardly any of them come out right.After seeing this one, I found out there was a 360 minutes miniseries years before on which this was based ('Conviction'), I hope I'll be able to find it somewhere, hoping it will turn out to be just the appropriate form - and that the acting will be (at least) just as good.3 out of 10, mostly for the acting.P.s. I was really taken with the small, small supporting role by Adrian Edmonson - when's he going to get a lead in something significant?!

Rarely does a movie come along that slips under the radar of the movie goers of the world that is as poignant as Blood. I know people have a habit of watching Blockbusters and judging all movies based on the salary of the actors and the budget of the film. Blood is proof, yet again, that a movie doesn't have to be high budget to be beyond great. I very rarely rate movies as most people don't really pay much attention to the actual review that is associated with the rating. The entire cast and crew of this movie were exemplary and deserve the accolades that go along with it. I have a new benchmark to base all crime dramas off of now thanks to this great and powerful movie.

The movie is pegged as a thriller but I prefer calling it a psychological drama with thriller features. As the storyline would have you think, the premise lends itself to a variety of ways it could have gone, however the best one was the psychological thriller and that is what most viewers would like hope to see when selecting this movie.I recognize the film did not go over so well with critics and they are entitled to their say; well they're paid for it anyway. Sadly, the audience also did not trip to the overall production and I, well I'm usually easy going, am on the fence with that one. Cops, brothers to boot, investigating a crime they themselves have committed entails possible clichés we are likely not thrilled to watch, but director Nick Murphy (and Bill Gallagher the writer) have managed to avoid those to my satisfaction. I'm a fan of Mark Strong and though he delivered a solid performance, his character did not really have a major part, not as much as I was hoping for. Brian Cox, who played the retired cop and father to the brothers, was excellent in his role, as anyone familiar with him would expect.The movie starts off with a crime scene and introduces us to Joe and Chrissie Fairburn, played respectively by Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham, the brothers. We get a glimpse of the intense personality of Bettany's character at that moment. The movie will then progressively and methodically immerse us in Joe Faiburn's hell, the demons he struggles with and despite that he is what one could call a good guy, the journey into his unravelling. On that basis, I would have felt stronger about endorsing the movie, but alas, I cannot; not that Bettany does not perform his little heart out, and he is an actor who can deliver such, but I know more viewers may well be disappointed with the direction the story goes and ends, so I won't.I chose to watch this movie because I was curious to see what sort of actor Stephen Graham was; I knew him solely from his role as Al Capone in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. I was impressed by his performances in the series and now that I've seen him in a motion picture, I will consider any future film in which he'll be playing more than a third casted role.

Blood deserves better than other reviewers have suggested. It is a small movie yes but it is intense and filled with first-rate performances from an excellent cast. Bettany especially is on great form, but then he usually is, as a man falling apart. You believe these characters, understand their motivations and emotions, even as you watch them get closer to the edge. We may have seen many of the cast in bigger productions but there is no sense that they are slumming it and even the smaller roles are played in an incredibly realistic way. It reminded me of some of the best noir movies in the way the plot is driven by the characters' reactions to one fateful action and the way the claustrophobia mounts as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened. Recommended.