Blood Work (2002)

Clint showing he was going to die so early in his career.

Retired FBI director Terry McCaleb (Clint Eastwood), feeble from a recent heart transplant, is hired by Graciela Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) to investigate the death of her sister, Gloria — who is, coincidentally, the donor of McCaleb’s new heart. McCaleb soon deduces that Gloria was murdered by a serial killer he was trailing for years while in the FBI … but can the elderly agent muster the strength to hunt down the killer and stop him for good?

This is once again one of those films starring and directed by Eastwood, who always tries to show these complex movies with a different take all the time.

The one thing about this film is that it’s all based on a real-life character that doesn’t seem fictional at all. Instead of playing these invincible heroes, Eastwood is a man that has faults in his life, with a worsening heart condition that always seem to get in his way.

The one thing about this film is that it isn’t about guessing who did the case, it’s more of about the relationships that build because of this case. This adds a more human element to the film of where we can see all these heart-warming elements put together.

I had some problems with this film however. Right from the beginning I knew who the villain was. I’m not going to give anything away but its pretty obvious who it is, and when it actually comes up of who it is the surprise element isn’t there. Much of the action was completely unbelievable. One of my little quirks is to be absolutely annoyed at Clint’s consistent ability to brandish firearms like a pro, then make comments that prove he knows nothing about them.

Clint does do a good job here as usual as this old, run-down, cop that could just drop at any moment and he plays it real well here. The best supporting act is Jeff Daniels who brings a lot of a comedic element to the film without acting too much like a goof and throwing us off the whole movie.

Consensus: Blood Work has good performances and nice tales of morality, but falls in with too much predictable plot lines, and unbelievable action.

5.5/10=Rental!!!