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As both an actor and a director, Clint Eastwood gets better as he gets older, and this suspenseful thriller provides the septuagenarian star with one of his most engrossing roles to date. He portrays Terry McCaleb, an FBI agent forced into retirement by the near-fatal heart attack he suffered while chasing a notorious serial killer. Saved by a last-minute heart transplant, a still-ailing Terry is asked by Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) to investigate the murder of her sister -- whose heart now beats in his chest. The Michael Connelly novel that screenwriter Brian Helgeland has adapted supplies the director-star with an interesting dilemma that Eastwood exploits for maximum dramatic effect. The search for the woman's murderer leads Terry back to the serial killer whose pursuit nearly cost him his life. Eastwood plays the former G-man as weak, tired, and feverish, constantly pressing a hand to his scarred chest while brushing off admonitions to relax. The character is continually conscious of his own mortality, yet driven by both his duty as a lawman and his obligation to the dead woman who gave him a second chance at life. As the donor's sister, De Jesus is subtle yet strong; she's not a dewy-eyed ingénue or a voluptuous sex kitten, but rather a mature woman who gradually develops affection for the ailing ex-agent. Jeff Daniels scores solidly as the amiable layabout who acts as Terry's chauffeur -- and who figures prominently in the film's exciting denouement. Understated and even elegiac in tone, Blood Work puts a different spin on familiar melodramatic plot conventions, and it has an emotional resonance that's absent from most thrillers -- which makes it, arguably, Eastwood's finest film since Unforgiven. The DVD sports a making-of featurette and interviews with Eastwood and other cast members. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A retired detective must battle former colleagues and his own failing health in order to bring a murderer to justice in this action drama produced and directed by its star, Clint Eastwood. Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) was one of the best and most thorough detectives at the FBI's Southern California office, until a massive heart attack sidelined him from police work for good. Following a heart transplant which saved his life, McCaleb has resigned himself to living quietly on a houseboat for the rest of his days, observing a strict health regimen prescribed by his cardiologist, Dr. Bonnie Fox (Anjelica Huston). However, McCaleb is persuaded to take on one last case through the insistence of a woman named Graciela Rivers (Wanda De Jesus). Rivers's sister was murdered in cold blood by a mugger, and her heart was used for McCaleb's transplant; now, Rivers wants McCaleb to find her sister's killer. McCaleb agrees to take on the case, but he quickly discovers his weakened physical condition makes the rigors of handling an investigation far harder and more difficult than its ever been before; he also can no longer drive a car, and must persuade his oddball friend from the marina,Buddy Noone (Jeff Daniels), to ferry him around town. Before long, despite these drawbacks, McCaleb discovers evidence which suggests the murderer may be a serial who uses random street robberies as a cover, but he finds that Ronaldo Arrango (Paul Rodriguez) and John Waller (Dylan Walsh), the police detectives assigned to the case, are not especially interested in sharing the glory (or their legwork) with the former FBI point man. Blood Work was adapted from the novel by Michael Connelly; Brian Helgeland wrote the screenplay. Mark Deming

Village Voice

A bracingly no-nonsense, highly professional policier -- as proudly old-fashioned as its curmudgeon hero. J. Hoberman

Chicago Sun-Times

1/2
The strength of the picture, directed by Eastwood, is that it has three intersecting story arcs: The investigation, the health issues, and the relationship that builds, step by step. Roger Ebert

New York Observer

It can be argued, I suppose, that Blood Work was designed from the outset not so much as a whodunit as a why-and-how-dunit, and here the film becomes metaphysically ingenious. Andrew Sarris

Product Details

• UPC: 085392420124
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:50:00
• Sales Rank: 3,820

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