Rating: 
Summary: Solid but standard Eastwood
Review: I will admit, the revealing of the villain is pretty clever. And so is the villain's motive. But other than that, this is merely an OK exercise by Clint Eastwood, and here's hoping he still has a few works in him that stretch his capabilities a little bit more. Not that he's bad, but he's on cruise control with this one. He plays a retired cop who comes out for a special case because he feels he owes it to the requestor. He's totally convincing as someone who knows his way around a police investigation. But then, he's had experience playing cops a lot of times. This could be Dirty Harry at this age. But I think what turns me off most is the performance by Paul Rodriguez. Of course he has to get resistance from the police, and Rodriguez, who is usually a decent actor, just goes way overboard (in one scene, literally) in his conviction to stop Eastwood from basically trying to help out. The movie would be better without such silliness. Mr. Eastwood, I hope to see more challenging work from you in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than Average (some spoilers included)
Review: Ex-FBI agent Terry McCaleb spends most of his days onboard his boat where he's recovering from a heart transplant. It's a quiet, restful life until Graciella Rivers steps onto McCaleb's boat. She wants McCaleb to find the murderer of her sister Gloria. McCaleb is uninterested until Graciella discloses one addition piece of information: the heart McCaleb received once belonged to Gloria. I really try hard not to compare movies to the novels they inspired, but in this case I watched the movie days after I finished the book. Still, I always endeavor to give the movie a fair shake.
(SPOILERS FOLLOW) The movie is a very smart, well-crafted story throughout, and Eastwood the Director knows how to keep the audience involved without giving away too much too soon. He also knows gives the audience credit for being smart enough to make connections without having to spell everything out for them. (I sure wish other directors understood that audiences do not need everything explained to them.) But I have two big problems with the film - one of character and one of casting. Even if I had never read the book, I would still have these problems: First, Detective Arrango's role is convoluted. Is he a true foil for McCaleb or is he onscreen for comic relief? To me, his function in the film as an irritant for McCaleb was not believable or consistent. One moment he jokes with McCaleb like they're buddies, the next he's in McCaleb's face. Then he's a clown...Too many hats, too many faces. Second, 15 minutes into the movie, I know who the killer is. Why? You have no big-name actor playing the villain. You DO have a big-name actor doing very little during the first 90 minutes of the film...he has to do SOMETHING...conclusion? He's the villain. Way too obvious. Still, I enjoyed BLOOD WORK enough to give it 4 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Snore
Review: Bad, bad, bad. This was a lackluster film that seemed so formulaic it may as well have been written by a computer program designed to churn out a "thriller". The dialogue is laughably poor (especially the supporting cast, e.g. the cops). I'm still scratching my head and wondering what on earth enticed Clint to direct this, and fine actors like Anjelica Huston to appear in it. It's even more depressing to realize that the screenwriter in question was responsible for one of the best films of the 90s: LA Confidential. How the mighty have fallen.
Rating:
Summary: CLINT IS STILL THE MAN...
Review: ...and don't forget it! Wow, I can't believe some of the horrendous comments other reviews have made; Clint is too old, his voice is rough, etcetera. What this movie does is portray an aging, graceful American film legend doing the brave thing, and that's show the wrinkles and the age instead of embarrassing himself by trying to pretend he's 25(or more) years younger. Harrison Ford is set to done the garb of Indian Jones again!" Attack the movie, but don't attack the man.
The movie, sad to say, isn't one of his best. I was a little stunned at the over the top clichéd performance by Paul Rodriguez trying to play "the tough wise cracking cop who must begrudgingly work with Clint's character." His performance was truly painful and his dialog didn't come close to matching the tone of the movie. That alone is enough to make it a 3 star event.
Bottom line: This movie is not Dirty Harry, but nevertheless it has enough twists and turns to keep you interested despite some very tired movie plot turns (the ending on the boat being the biggest). It's a rental for sure, but I would only consider purchasing (as I have) for the major Clint fans.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, slow, and slow, like hell.
Review: The whole movie's going is so slow and slow, like a snail, dragging along, like hell. My God, the script and directing, a typical Eastwood life-is-not-so-short-so-take-easy-let-me-count-the-ways slow motion picture. The whole movie is like watching John Woo's drive-you-nuts again and again slow motions uncut and link together. This movie is a dinosaur, a totally silent BOMB. If you still decide to watch it whatsoever, trust me, get some chewing nicotin to keep you awake on the couch besides the potato chips.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Concept, Poor Execution
Review: One thing you realize early on when watching BLOOD WORK--Clint Eastwood is waaayyy too long in the tooth to be playing the FBI agent/detective, or anything remotely in the aforementioned arena. Unfortunately, that's really the very least of this picture's troubles. Though built around a somewhat interesting premise, the film's director--that being Eastwood--fails to deliver anything that is even barely watchable. Blame can also be laid at the feet of whoever wrote the creaky script, and the casting department won't being getting any props,either--it goes without saying that Eastwood is his usual wooden self, but both Paul Rodriquez and Jeff Daniels are irritating and miscast, respectively. The actresses come off a little better, with Tina Lifford as a former partner and Anjelica Huston as Eastwood's cardiologist faring best, though anyone buying the supposed attraction between Eastwood and Wanda De Jesus needs their head checked. All in all, the movie's title ultimately betrays the finished product--this mess is dead on arrival, and it would undoubtedly take more than blood to pump any life into this wreck.
Rating:
Summary: Three and a half stars.
Review: Mr. Eastwood does it again. Compared to what's coming out of Hollywood these days "Blood Work" is an exciting, interesting mystery thriller. Paul Rodriquez's attempt at being funny doesn't work but his seriousness does and the age difference between Eastwood and De Jesus is just slightly awkward and Mr. Daniels does an excellent job at not being silly. The film has suspense, twists and turns, a love interest and it works well. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Bravo Clint!
Rating:
Summary: Old Blood Carries the Day
Review: Clint Eastwood has been a film cowboy or cop for so long that it is a shock to see him age to the point that his health becomes an issue. In BLOOD WORK, Eastwood plays retired FBI serial killer profiler Terry McCaleb, who is called out of retirement to catch a killer who retired when he did, but has come out of retirement to dance again with an unwilling partner. McCaleb is the serious-minded cop that I imagined Harry Callahan from DIRTY HARRY would have grown into. McCaleb is the consummate professional who notes that most big name crimes are not solved by brilliant policework or the extra-legal bruisings that Callahan used against the Scorpio Killer but rather by the little things that often get overlooked in the initial investigation. McCaleb is tired, gravelly-voiced, and has a bad ticker that lands him in the hospital. He is given a heart transplant, and is astounded to learn that the sister of the donor has tracked him down to help her find her sister's killer. At this point, director Eastwood plays actor Eastwood like a finely tuned and familiar violin, each time hitting just the right note. Even though Eastwood shows every bit of his age, his ability to radiate his passion for the law makes his romance with the much younger sister (Wanda DeJesus) of his late donor seem more the need for two lost souls to reconnect to their roots than it is merely a dirty old man scarfing up on a ready opportunity. For much of the middle half, Eastwood and Jeff Daniels team up to form a buddy movie as both seek to find the killer. Eastwood is so good at his craft that it was not difficult to overlook the logical flaws of a myriad of twists and turns that point the audience first one way, than another. BLOOD WORK, then, is your standard cat and mouse cop film that is redeemed by the sight and pleasure of watching an old pro at work who knows how to milk a movie from both sides of the camera.
Rating:
Summary: Tired Blood
Review: This is just another killer-obsessed-with-cop movie; "Dirty Harry" as an old man with a heart condition. Poor old Clint should really retire from both acting and directing. His voice has grown so low and horse I could barely understand his lines. "Blood Work" is a flat-out depressing movie to watch and at times horrifically dull. The only thing that kept me awake was my astonishment at how perfectly sappy and overly sentimental the script was.
Rating:
Summary: laughably lame script
Review: I have never been a fan of Clint Eastwood, but my friends wanted to get this movie from the video rental store, and it had the encouraging two thumbs up from Ebert and pal, so I gave it a shot. Clint still totes a gun, and still gets the girl, a young Latina, even younger than his real-life wife Dina Ruiz who makes two brief appearances as a TV reporter. The intracacies of the murder plot are fine, though not any better than an average episode of "Boomtown" or "Law and Order," leading up to the usual climactic firearm battle. However, the script gives these poor actors a long list of laughably ridiculous lines which really can't be delivered with any realistic authority. Watch at your own risk, this is bad, bad stuff.
|
