Bloodline is the latest film from Seann William Scott of American Pie fame, playing a role far from the comedic romps we’ve known him for. Even as I type these words, I cringe knowing the man has the chops to be a bigger commodity in Hollywood. If you don’t believe me go watch The Rundown, you’ll thank me later. So, to see him take a darker role I figured I was in for something interesting.
The synopsis of Bloodline goes as such: a formally abused and traumatized social worker, Evan, fresh with a newborn son, decides to act out his own vengeance on the fathers of the children he councils at a local high school with murderous results. This was the film I thought I was reviewing. Instead, I was met with a weak story about a man culling his urges for bloodlust while making every wrong move a person in his position, a serial killer trying not to get caught, should never make.
While a truly frustrating experience, though, this is not to say the film is a total bomb. A few less unneeded twists and turns might have made the whole thing plausible.
Someone Turn On The Lights
Some may categorize the film Bloodline as horror, with its copious amounts of gore and visceral scenes of skin tearing violence. Or maybe a psychological thriller, perhaps, given the several close nods to Dexter or American Psycho. What one might not categorize this film as – successful in execution.
The good parts are good. It’s the bad parts, however, which weigh the plot down tragically. Writer/director Henry Jacobson, who seems to have gotten his start in documentary film, ironically does little to ground the film in realism. Each character makes terrible decisions which lead to further chaos only to work out in the climax to a happily ever after ending for those who should have a comeuppance.
Jacobson’s inability to paint his anti-heroes with any sort of likability diminishes any returns on their final gambits. While brutal, they could have been seen as heroic rather than illogical. Everyone comes off as slickly brilliant without the intelligence. Almost enragingly so.
Seann William Scott is doing his best to play the heavy as a put upon father who thinks his actions are righteous but never allows the audience to feel the same. Despite Scott’s hard work here, the character never fully translates due to poor character development.
The special effects are grotesquely well done and the production has a slick look, but everything from screenplay to lighting plays a part in why this film has no bite. Seriously, every scene short of the ones in daylight is dimly lit by a single source such as a lamp or television. When we are in Evan’s house, if there is one light on per room we are lucky. His abode must be the most cost-efficient home since caveman times. Which helps in the film’s dour feel, I guess.
Who Are We Rooting For Here?
The other issue with the film is the lack of sympathy for anyone onscreen. Scott comes off as a vacant shell who is grossly misled by the traumatic events of his childhood, only to be enabled by his equally broken mother played a domineeringly manipulative Dale Dickey who takes her role for a walk. Mariela Garriga does well playing the put upon wife Lauren, a new mother grappling with her ability to do so. Lauren is, at first, our sympathetic hotspot. A trait quickly dismissed towards the end of the second act leaving almost nobody of merit to cling to.
The acting is decent with everyone pulling their weight, especially Scott who dips in and out from personable to sociopathic with his effective facial ticks. But an actor can only do so much with a role if not given proper motivation by story or direction. Jacobson does well to use editing in interesting ways, though the overused smash cuts and the gratingly off-putting score could have reigned in a bit. Splitscreen sequences, flashes of childbirth coalesced with scenes of human evisceration while ear numbingly sharp music sets the mood works until it doesn’t. The edge lord amount of time spent driving home exactly how brutal Evan can be is almost taken to the point of ineffectiveness. We know he is crazy. It’s why we bought a ticket. A defter, more subtle hand could have added spice without ruining the soup.
Bloodline: It’s A Family Affair
To be fair, I didn’t dislike Bloodline to the point of vitriol. There was a definite vision here, and not a bad one at that. But the need to be edgy brought a concept which could have prevailed down to an over the top level. The twist moments before the finale were unnecessary other than to coincide with the title of the film, but more egregious is the last twist itself. It felt obvious and implausible and somehow, it fits in with the slipshod design of the screenplay.
Take a story like American Psycho where the world-building explains Patrick Bateman’s psychosis by jabbing at the cut-throat, pun intended, societal expectations driving the anti-hero to commit such heinous acts. Instead, the narrative decides to leave out key points only to reveal them shockingly as if we hadn’t figured them out on our own. The worst part is the concept is solid just unpolished.
Not counting it out completely, understandably some folks will enjoy this film. Personally, I would not recommend this to the everyday filmgoer mostly in part to the heavy dollop of graphic imagery. But if you’re looking for a slow simmer with an odd aftertaste, by all means, watch Bloodline.
Every now and again an actor or actress steps outer of their comfort zone for a role. The Film Inquiry Community would love to know some of your favorites. Leave your comments below and get the conversation going.
Watch Bloodline
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