Blood for Dust is as sturdy as an old pair of work boots. It’s the quintessential crime drama that used to be a cable staple, not that any of the characters in the film would know it. It delivers a steady supply of surprising violence and comes with a sense of despair so thick it hangs over the story like a second sky. All that to say, Blood for Dust is the kind of movie where you know if it’s your cup of tea off the title alone.
Genre stalwart Scoot McNairy plays Cliff, a traveling salesman who hustles whatever product will get him paid at any given moment. Once upon a time, Cliff may have dealt with questionable products and dubious people, but he’s been living a straight life for a minute now. But the straight life ain’t doing much for Cliff. A lonesome, peaceful burger and beer at some dive in the middle of Montana, or is it Wyoming? Maybe it’s Idaho. Wherever it is, it’s not a place far enough to help Cliff outrun his past, but it just may be able to salvage his future.
A Montana strip club is where that past shows up in the form of Ricky (Kit Harrington). With the promise of a sizable payday, Ricky lures Cliff back in for some gun and drug trafficking. It won’t surprise you to hear that things don’t go smoothly for Cliff. What is pleasantly surprising about Blood for Dust is how successfully it hits the crime movie beats. Cliff is so weary from constant traveling and scraping by that it’s part of his personality. McNairy gives Cliff a calm, sturdy exterior, while keeping Cliff’s desperation just under the surface. The stress of living a straight life is nearly as bad for Cliff as the things he used to do.
Ricky, on the other hand, is loyal only to money he’s after. He’s a dirtbag and makes no bones about it. Harrington is clearly having a blast slumming it as Ricky. Equipped with greasy hair and mustache, Harrington provides the few light notes the movie makes room for. Cliff and Ricky’s history is what binds them together and their relationship is like a rubber band being stretched out. Each man is at one end of the band as the movie stretches them farther apart. The snapback is inevitable and the slow burn to get there is well executed.
David Ebeltoft’s script is lean and mean. Blood for Dust is a slow-motion car crash for these characters and the writing is deliberate in laying everything at stake for them. The dialogue is tough and the action is even tougher. Rod Blackhurst’s direction constantly reinforces the bleakness of Cliff’s situation. Lonely shots in bars and motel rooms and breathtaking mountain vistas as Cliff drives on empty roads remind viewers of Cliff’s isolation. Blackhurst draws out the tension in nearly every encounter Cliff has along the way.
Blood for Dust is a finely crafted crime thriller. It’s not doing anything groundbreaking, but everything it does, it does well. McNairy carries the film and Harrington is a deliciously scuzzy foil. Stephen Dorff, Josh Lucas, Nora Zehetner, and Ethan Suplee fill out the supporting cast, all of them making the most of their scenes. If you’re into down and dirty crime movies, make time for Blood for Dust.
Blood for Dust is currently streaming on Hulu
