Over the years John Cusack has churned out some movies that I really liked, but more recently he seems to hitting more of the straight to home release market. I know that they aren’t always meant for that and a lot goes into the release in between making and release. His latest film Blood Money which is a modern retelling of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, , co-stars Ellar Coltrane, Willa Fitzgerald and Jacob Artist looks to put him in a more of a villain role, but does it offer up anything that stands out or will it be a hunt not worth making?

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Blood Money follows three friends on a wilderness excursion who must outrun a white collar criminal hell bent on retrieving his cash, but soon their greed turns them against each other. This is a pretty by the numbers flick and offers very little originality to help it stand out. Of all the characters in the film, Cusack’s is the only one with any substance. Instead of the usual villain role he is just a common criminal that wants what is his, or what he stole at least, and really no other trouble. Seeing his reaction when he is forced to chase them and attempt to kill them shows a frustrated guy who doesn’t want to deal with any of this let alone kill someone, but has little options.

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The rest of the cast are pretty unlikeable as they showcase instant greed and hate towards each other that usually is due to money, but here I think they are all just bad people. It is near impossible to connect with any of them because they are all jerks or morons and you pretty much want them to lose, which I don’t think is the direction it was meant to go. I was hoping for some redeeming quality, but alas there was not one. The biggest jerk of them all is the girl of the group which is a bit of a twist, but her reasoning for going full greedy bitch just wasn’t justifiable enough for me to buy into her.

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This is one of those movies that is a decent enough rental, but doesn’t offer up much in the way of new. Cusack is really the only reason to watch this film and while not given all that much to do to further his character does manage to make the one you would normally dislike be the one you root for instead. Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Blood Money when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 19th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.