The grisly fate of Debbie’s alcoholic husband George (Jimmy LeBlanc) resonates, as does the image of a burning RV amidst the blinding snow.īerenger, the stalwart that he is, holds the film together in an introverted, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him performance. An encounter with a provincial but observant guard will have you on the edge of your seat, as will the one with a cop at a gas station. Barr, who also wrote and shot the film, knows his way around intense atmosphere and fraught moments. A tense sequence of events ensues.Īfter a slow-burn start, wherein the characters are introduced, Blood and Money kicks into high gear. When he goes back to retrieve evidence from the murder scene, Jim decides to take the stolen money. Soon after, he accidentally shoots a young woman in the woods and recognizes her as one of the robbers. One day, while hanging out with the distraught waitress Debbie (Kristen Hagger) at the local diner, Jim hears of a nearby casino robbery. He coughs up blood and washes down his meds with milk. He lives in his makeshift RV, where he drinks and smokes all day. Jim misses his son, whom he hasn’t seen in over a year. The title card informs us that there are no paved roads, no towns – unless you call Allagash, home of aging buck hunter Jim Reed ( Tom Berenger), a town. The film is set in the vast, frozen wilderness of Northern Maine. It may not reinvent the wheel, nor does it try to. There’s little fat on this lean, mean, bloody-rare buck steak. If you’re looking for a no-nonsense, edge-of-your-seat thriller that favors characters over mindless action, then look no further than John Barr’s Blood and Money.

Blood money movie reviews