Blood Work (2002)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

Michael Connelly (novel)
Brian Helgeland (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer

Plot:

Still recovering from a heart transplant, a retired FBI profiler returns to service when his own blood analysis offers clues to the identity of a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | FBI Profiler | Heart Transplant | Murder | Boat

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Terry McCaleb
Jeff Daniels	...	Jasper 'Buddy' Noone
Anjelica Huston	...	Dr. Bonnie Fox
Wanda De Jesus	...	Graciella Rivers (as Wanda De Jesús)
Tina Lifford	...	Detective Jaye Winston
Paul Rodriguez	...	Detective Ronaldo Arrango
Dylan Walsh	...	Detective John Waller
Mason Lucero	...	Raymond Torres
Gerry Becker	...	Mr. Toliver
Rick Hoffman	...	James Lockridge
Alix Koromzay	...	Mrs. Cordell
Igor Jijikine	...	Mikhail Bolotov
Dina Eastwood	...	Reporter #1
Beverly Leech	...	Reporter #2
June Kyoto Lu	...	Mrs. Kang (as June Kyoko Lu)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Denmark:15 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #39126) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Acton, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Productions

Trivia:

Det. Arrango's badge number is 14110. McCaleb uses Arrango's name to call into the 911 center to check the time on the convenience store surveillance system, and this is the badge number he gives.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Terry is paying Buddy, he asks Buddy who he should make the check out to, Buddy says "Jasper Noone"; later when Terry brings the check to Buddy the check is made out to Buddy Noone.

Quotes:

Buddy Noone: Who wants to go to the desert anyway?
Terry McCaleb: You go where the clues lead.
Buddy Noone: Don't they ever lead to the beach?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Making 'Blood Work' (2002) (V)

Still grand to see Eastwood be his old cool self, albeit with a bad ticker

Clint Eastwood's 20th feature directed and starring himself, Blood Work, is a good sign in times of recent thriller drek. Here is Clint, 72 years old, and actually doing the right thing; being the old sort of Dirty Harry-esquire type of cop while still being realistic with himself. Truth be told, he won't do movies forever, much less be a cop with almost all the right moves, and here we see him as FBI Agent Terry McCaleb in the beginning try and climb a fence to catch a code killer (which resonates from past Eastwood projects) and he collapses from a heart attack (sad but oddly accurate). He retires, and two years later a woman comes forth to him asking for help in finding a killer.

And anyway, what makes Blood Work so fascinating (if only up to a point if seen more than once) is that it's a well crafted thriller, one that has the usual police procedural from many years back, a bit of a romance with Wanda DeJesus, and comic relief from Jeff Daniels. So, if you decide to see this latest installment in the sprawling career of Clint Eastwood, keep in mind that it has all the style, music, and nostalgia even in donuts that it had back in the day 30 years ago. And maybe it's just me, but it will be hard not to grin when you see him grab a gun. B+