Blood Work ** (2002, Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Anjelica Huston) – Classic Movie Review 1827

Producer-director-star Clint Eastwood pairs with screen writer Brian Helgeland, the highly skilled and talented writer of L.A. Confidential, for this wearily convoluted 2002 thriller about Terry McCaleb, a retired FBI profiler (Eastwood), with a heart condition and a rare blood group.

Though still recovering from a heart transplant, he finds he needs to return to service when his blood analysis provides some clues to the identity of a serial killer.

McCaleb is on the trail of an obsessive killer, who may be nearer to him than he’d like to think. He finally offers to help grieving Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) find the person who’s killed her sister, also the donor of his new heart he’s been given in a transplant organised by his cardiologist, Dr Bonnie Fox (Anjelica Huston).

With a lack of complexity and suspects, the killer so easy to spot, the plotting so mechanical and the characters so cardboard, this is not anything like Eastwood’s best work. Helgeland can’t bring anything of real quality or conviction to his misfiring script from the plot and characters of Michael Connelly’s potboiler novel.

But the performances are valiant, and Eastwood’s fans and thriller buffs may still find it worth a little look. It’s adequate as a late-night mystery movie on TV and Eastwood’s always worth watching. Eastwood’s 72, and this is his last cop movie to date.

Jeff Daniels, Paul Rodriguez and Dylan Walsh also star.

Eastwood’s wife Dina has a cameo as one of the TV reporters asking questions. Before marrying she was a TV reporter in Salinas, California. On October 21 2013 she filed for divorce after a two-month separation. They had a daughter, Morgan, on December 12, 1996. 

Eastwood and Helgeland re-teamed for Mystic River (2003), an ambitious, character-driven thriller that was a triumphant return to form.

http://derekwinnert.com/mystic-river-classic-film-review-468/

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1827

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/