Rating: 
Summary: Clint still delivers a good movie.
Review: Clint once again shows us his talent as both actor and director in this pretty good thriller of him playing a retired FBI agent who gets a new heart and lease on life from a murdered woman whose sister (Wanda De Jesus) wants him to solve the two year old murder of her sister. Clint trades in guns and one action sequence after another, for a more substance type movie, much like IN THE LINE OF FIRE, where he shows us his human, more compassionate side. There is action/adventure in this movie but it is toned down for more character development and acting on the part of all the players. Another winner for Clint.
Rating: 
Summary: The 6th Dirty Harry...
Review: This should have been the 6th and final Dirty Harry. It would have been a perfect way to end the series. The movie played like a movie from the Dirty Harry series - someone died in the first 5 minutes, the ending was around water, and he used something other than his .44 magnum to kill the bad guy in the end. All they would have had to do was change his name to Harry Callahan, and give him a slightly rougher edge. This movie will be in my dvd collection, right next to the Dirty Harry series. This movie is great. It seems like Clint can't make a bad movie, even if he tried. He is the greatest actor that ever lived.
Rating: 
Summary: solid Eastwood vehicle
Review: ***1/2 For action movie stars, the question of how to age gracefully on screen has become a growing concern of late, now that many of the men who made their mark and their fortunes in the genre during the '70's, '80's and early '90's have begun to slip not merely into middle age but, in some cases, even old age as well. For understandable reasons, many of these brawny gentlemen have refused to go gently into that night of second-string bit player roles and has-been status - and their studios, which earned some mighty bucks off their popularity during that time, have been reluctant to let go of them as well. The action genre requires, of course, a nimbleness and vitality that come only with youth. How then to get men pushing 50, 60, even 70 years of age to compete with the up-and-coming action stars of the future, men with the energy and vigor to pull off the stunts these senior citizens can but dream about from their own long-past glory days? One way to deal with the problem is to simply ignore the effects of aging altogether, to have the actors go through the motions anyway, even at the risk of reducing the whole enterprise to the level of rank implausibility. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, in their latest action films, have settled for this strategy, the result of which is that their films haven't been either very successful at the box office or all that much fun to watch of late. The much older Clint Eastwood has decided to take the opposite tack. In the latter stages of his career, Eastwood has found ways to incorporate the elements of aging into the people he is portraying. These characters need time to recover from the stressful physical requirements of the job; their reflex time is not always what it should be; they work hard at staying alongside their younger crime-fighting partners when pursuing a suspect on foot; they get winded when they run. The sight of Eastwood panting to keep up with the President's motorcade in "In the Line of Fire" is one of the great emblematic images of '90's action cinema. Well, it is nine years since that film, and Eastwood himself is now 72 years old. In his new film "Blood Work," Eastwood's Terry McCaleb is about as close to keeling over dead as any action movie protagonist we have ever come across. Not only is he old, he suffers a heart attack while chasing a serial killer in the opening scene and, two years later, has just received a brand new ticker, courtesy of a young female donor who was murdered in a convenience store robbery. Although McCaleb's doctor keeps telling him that this postoperative period is a crucial one requiring complete rest and relaxation, this retired FBI murder investigator decides to disobey doctor's orders when the heart donor's beautiful sister arrives on his houseboat begging him to help her find the young woman's killer. The plot of "Blood Work," based on the novel by Michael Connelly (and adapted by Brian Helgeland), is not the real selling point of the film - although it emerges as a better-than-average police procedural with some interesting plot twists, unusual locations and a nice maze-like structure to keep the audience guessing (although I must admit that I figured out who the killer was rather early on in the story). The film also does a nice job closing in on itself, making McCaleb himself an integral part of the story's final unraveling (though it does steal a bit from "In the Line of Fire" in this one area). Yet the most impressive aspect of the film is not its story but its central character and, most particularly, the performance of Eastwood himself. Perhaps because he also directed the picture, this legendary star really seems to inhabit the character he is playing here. With his craggy - but still remarkably handsome - face, Eastwood looks like a man who has weathered any number of life's greatest trials and emerged from them a better, more compassionate human being. Having devoted his career to trying to get into the minds of the sickest types of criminals imaginable (serial killers), he is still able to be touched by the desperate pleas of a grieving sister, the sad plight of a young boy facing the grim prospect of an early death brought on by a weak heart, and the innate goodness and innocence of a young son who has lost the dearest thing in his life to a madman's bullet. McCaleb knows the difference between good and evil, and he also knows that second chances don't always come around in life so he better make the most of the one he's been handed. There are superb supporting performances by Jeff Daniels as the neighbor excited at the prospect of sharing in some of the glamour of McCaleb's investigative work, Anjelica Huston as the cardiologist maddened by her patient's refusal to take it easy in his crucial period of convalescence, Wanda De Jesus as the sister who sets the plot in motion with her request that McCaleb help her in her search for justice, Paul Rodriquez as the eternally irate detective who thinks McCaleb is overstepping his jurisdiction and Tina Lifford as a fellow investigator who has enough faith to trust the old pro even when he seems to be going beyond the bounds of totally by-the-book rules and procedures. It's unfortunate that Eastwood does compromise a bit by having his character end up in a romantic relationship with the much younger De Jesus rather than with a woman closer to his own age. I guess even this superstar couldn't stand THAT much of an affront to his male ego. Oh well, give credit to the man for at least having the gumption to confront some of the realities of his own aging. We are happy enough with what we have. Let's not expect miracles.
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets!
Review: This is Eastwood at his finest. He plays an aging officer in pursuit of a serial killer like an older Dirty Harry. His moves are more subtle but very deliberate. What I found fascinating to the film was the subplot of the heart transplant's connection to the bigger picture. It is a convoluted tale that seems a bit far fetched at first but slowly it begins to dawn on you just what's going on. Don't let anyone call you stupid for not figuring out the whodunit. I'm a great reader of suspense thrillers and I was without a clue. The acting by all (DeJesus, Rodriguez and Jeff Daniels) was excellent. Great cast and crew; great director. If you like Eastwood at all you'll love this picture.
Rating:
Summary: Good Eastwood brought down by banal script
Review: I kid you not that I knew who the killer was the very first time I saw him in the movie. This is why I have to lay the blame at novelist Michael Connelly and screen writer Brian Helgeland (who knows his way around thrillers like LA CONFIDENTIAL and PAYBACK). The "mystery" just isn't there! Many critics have argued that this is Clint in top form, and I agree, that he's in top form as director and actor here. As is Jeff Daniels. As is Wanda de Jesus. As is Paul Rodriguez (in an inexplicable part). As is Dylan Walsh (who is in a throwaway part). What is NOT good is the STORY!!! For anyone that shares the same concerns as I do about any-book-turned-in-to-movie (fill that in with any John Grisham, or Michael Crichton assembly-line production), I say STAY AWAY!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly disappointing from some of the best
Review: This movie, about a retired FBI profiler (Clint Eastwood) who is living a quiet life recovering from a heart transplant when the sister of his heart donor comes hoping for his help in the investigation of her sister's death, is mainly a disappointment, which is surprising given the talent that went into the movie.
It's based on a book of the same name by one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly, adapted for the screen by Brian Helgeland of LA Confidential fame, and directed by as well as starring Clint Eastwood, whom I have followed since his Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns.
My gripes aren't with where the movie strays from the book, which happens often enough, but rather with large logic flaws and some poor acting from Paul Rodriguez as a wisecracking cop and even, on occasion, from Eastwood. Jeff Daniels is a pleasure as the beach bum neighbor-turned-sidekick and some of the supporting cast is good. Eastwood even has some great moments peppered throughout the movie, but none of the charm displayed in In the Line of Fire or even the broken-hearted serioiusness of Unforgiven. And while there are good moments to the movie, none of them are great, and they aren't enough to override the various problems with the movie.
All things considered, I would tell fans of the well-crafted book to take a pass, fans of Eastwood to rent one of his other movies, and anyone that feels that they absolutely must see this movie to wait for it to come out on video or late-night cable.
Rating:
Summary: An Old-School Style Thriller.
Review: I guess Clint Eastwood is going to be one of the rare action icons that ages gracefully and with dignity.....Blood Work is another classy film from the legendary Actor/Director. Eastwood plays an aging F.B.I. profiler on the trail of "The Code Killer"; He suffers a career-ending Heart attack while chasing the killer, and winds up needing a heart transplant. Two years into his retirement he is contacted by the sister of a recent murder victim looking for his help finding her killer. Why him? Well, his new heart belonged to her sister. The movie is very tightly constructed, and to say much more would give away the surprises. I didn't have much of a problem following the clues, and I was able to deduce the identity of the killer and his connection to Eastwood, but the movie is so good that I really didn't mind. Eastwood has constructed a rock-solid thriller very reminiscent of his earlier work, and no matter how old he is, he still kicks butt!
Rating:
Summary: Not bad for an older guy!
Review: Let me preface my review by an admission. I like the work that Clint Eastwood does and have done ever since I first saw Rawhide so I am, to some extent, biased. However, before seeing this movie today, my thoughts upon seeing the trailer on TV were that this was like a Dirty Harry movie. As the beginning of the movie proceeded I could see that there were obvious parallels and indeed it occurred to me that at one stage the movie was intended to lay the ghost of Dirty Harry to rest. There have been many calls for Clint to reprise the role despite his advancing years and I think that this is a clear message that there will be no more. In many ways this is the antithetical movie to a Dirty Harry - it is slower paced, gory in a different sort of way, set in anonymous Los Angeles rather than San Francisco, making fun out of some of the situations such as having a partner in the way of the Enforcer. The plot is quite a clever one but does not take a reasonable member of the audience long to figure out. It has a plausible love interest as well as engaging dialogue and some great character interactions. As always with his movies the production and direction are crisp and sharp. The score sounds remarkably like the Lalo Schiffrin scores of DH but they are not. This is an enjoyable outing by Clint Eastwood and while it may not be the blockbuster audience attractor of the year it is a good solid tale with more than a modicum of good acting and storytelling which makes it good value for money as a cinema outing. One of the best remarks I heard about this was that Clint Eastwood does not mind appearing as a character of about his own age. That is clearly true but as the old adage says you are only as young as you feel, With this movie Clint shows that he is still feeling a lot younger than his physical age which means that there are plenty more of good movies to come from him yet. This is good solid entertainment from one of America's best known and loved Hollywood icons. Worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Decent crime-thriller flick but awkward at times.
Review: I happened to have had a fascination with the whole way that forensic investigators have used unusual evidence to track down and find who the real criminals behind crimes really are. 2002's Clint Eastwood directed "Blood Work" for the most part does succeed in being a really good and sometimes challenging movie for crime-drama thriller moviegoers. Terry McCaleb is a former FBI agent Miami who recently retired after a minor heart attack forced him to retire from the job of police investigator until after a string of killings, he comes out of retirement and goes back on the job when the sister of a murder victim is desperate to have her sister's killer brought to justice. Terry McCaleb has had a hard life because of the frustration of letting the killer slip through his hands due to the heart ailment that he suffered just as he was about to catch him. Even more daunting is that the victims' blood matches McCaleb's and he in fact got a heart transplant from one of the murder victims but defies the health effects of his heart transplant to bring down the killer before he strikes again. This movie is a really good thriller for the most part but the movie does have it's share of flaws like even a lot of positive reviews have emphasized. One of the is that the acting by the entire cast, while decent, does from time to time, drift off in all directions. However my favorite one was actor Paul Rodriguez. While he doesn't have a whole lot of acting time on this film, he is so funny as the hot-tempered chief who has had a long standing semi-rivalry with McCaleb. Seeing his character go ballistic all the time is so funny and to be honest, besides Clint Eastwood, Paul Rodriguez really is the shining star for me. "Blood Work" is also marred somewhat by a slow moving storyline and it drags on in places and as a result it's sometimes hard to watch the movie without sitting still or getting bored but it does pick back up before you would fall asleep. One lovemaking scene between Gracielle Rivers(Wanda De Jesus) and McCaleb was somewhat iffy in my opinion due to their age differences and it felt cold to me. However, The idea of the killer targeting individuals with the same blood type is in my opinion quite original and keeps this movie from being totally predictable. This is not an essential movie by any stretch of the imagination but for those who like shows like "CSI" as well as "CSI: Miami", then this film is worth a look or two. The DVD has offers no worthy extras in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: What can you do with a bad script?
Review: Clint Eastwood is retired FBI agent Terry McCaleb whose last still-unsolved case involved the "Code Killer"-- a bold murderer who seems to take delight in leaving vague messages for McCaleb. But McCaleb retires following a heart attack, and a heart transplant seems to ensure that McCaleb's retirement will be a quiet one. However, after the transplant, McCaleb meets Graciella Rivers--the sister of the heart donor. Graciella appeals to McCaleb's conscience when she tells him that he owes it to her deceased sister to track down the murderer. The first half of the film was not too bad at all, but it very quickly disintegrated amd became silly, implausible and predictable. Clint Eastwood plays the role in typical laconic Eastwood fashion--however, instead of snarling at the villains, he spent the better part of the film gripping his chest and looking as though he had heartburn. But it is amazing that he is still playing the male lead in his 70s. There's a lot of talk and sympathy for beautiful female film stars who age and have difficulty getting roles, but not much seems to be said about the male stars who age and are no longer convincing as tough characters. I read professional reviewer comments that this role was unique for Eastwood as it accepted his age and his human frailties. Actually, I thought that the fact that McCaleb had the heart transplant really served as a cover for the issue of age, and merely served as a device to 'allow' aging for Eastwood.
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