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It’s often said that desperate times call for desperate measures. And in the crime thriller Blood for Dust, a desperate man finds himself in way over his head after he agrees to follow an old friend into a dangerous situation.
Blood for Dust stars Scoot McNairy as Cliff, a traveling salesman who’s struggling to support his family. When his questionable past catches up to him, he finds himself desperate for a new job—so he calls his old colleague, Ricky (Kit Harington), for help. Ricky has moved on to a lucrative career as an arms dealer and drug runner—and he sees plain, dull salesman Cliff as the perfect partner. But when his first job doesn’t go as planned, Cliff ends up scrambling to find a way to escape with his life.
Cliff may have been convinced that the job would be simple—just add an extra passenger and some extra cargo to his car and drive through Montana to their destination—but he soon finds himself in the middle of a deadly situation, working with a man who’s shown that he won’t think twice about killing one more man if he feels it’s necessary.
McNairy’s Cliff seems like an average, unassuming guy. He’s not an ambitious go-getter with a 10-year plan. He’s just a guy who makes some bad decisions while trying to provide for his family. When we eventually learn more about him, he becomes somewhat more layered—but, even then, he still seems rather bland. Ricky, meanwhile, is an intense, all-in kind of guy who will stop at nothing to make a buck—betraying, backstabbing, and killing his way to get what he wants. And when Cliff figures that out, he realizes that he’ll have to figure out a way to get out of this situation alive.
The story definitely takes its time in building the drama and suspense. Cliff isn’t an especially exciting character, and the film takes too long to develop his story. Once the action begins, though, it speeds right on through to the end of the film. The strange pacing and ho-hum main character make it a rather forgettable film—but it eventually builds to something more exciting.
Blood for Dust isn’t really a gripping thriller. It takes its time in building the character’s background—but it doesn’t pay as much attention to the story itself. If you’re just in the mood for some brainless action, though, this will do the trick.
You can hit the highway with Cliff and Ricky when Blood for Dust arrives in select theaters and on demand on April 19, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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