Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

This is a day late, unfortunately, but due to two night shifts and too little sleep… I was writing this while drinking an energy drink just before work.

This… probably wouldn’t have been the kind of film I would have chosen to watch on my own. Although the trailer did look good the first time I saw it, this genre tends to be one further down on my list to watch. But one of my brothers just turned fifteen and this was his first ‘official’ viewing of a movie with that rating.

I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would. Loosely based on a true story, I felt that the concept was one that worked especially well. Danny Collins in the first scene of this movie was a character who I felt a lot of sympathy for. As an older man, it was obvious his lifestyle was stagnating (the not-so-surprise birthday party) and it was clear he did need something of a wakeup call.

There were some really amusing moments in this movie and occasions where I found myself outright laughing. As well as the humour, though, I felt the serious scenes worked really well. There were parts that were really quite emotional, especially towards the end.

I had a lot of empathy towards Tom in this movie. I could really understand his reluctance to let his father into his life and I enjoyed watching his relationship with his wife and daughter. I could fully understand how difficult it had to be for him and Samantha to raise a daughter with those kinds of difficulties.

Hope was probably my favourite in this movie, though she did come across as younger than she actually was supposed to be. I also noticed that there were very little similarities in hers and her parents’ appearances.

I did like the romantic aspects of this film, but it was also good to see that the focus was more on the family… even if the running jokes about dinner were amusing.

I did like the ending of this movie and I though the actors worked really well in their roles. During the end credits, there are snippets of the true story this film was inspired by and I felt those were worth watching.

Personally, I don’t think I would watch this movie again. But it was well-made and well-cast; funny in parts and emotionally moving in others. If you’re on the fence about seeing this, I would suggest giving it a try. It’s not the sort of film I would personally choose to watch normally and I really enjoyed it, so… see what you think.