Blood Work (2002)

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.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Michael Connelly (novel), Brian Helgeland (screenplay)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Anjelica Huston

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

Retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb (Eastwood), who has recently had a heart transplant, is hired by Graciela Rivers (De Jesus), to investigate the death of her sister, Gloria, who happens to have given McCaleb his heart. On the case, he soon deduces that the killer, who staged the murder to look like a random robbery, may actually be a serial killer Terry was trailing for years in the FBI. Can the elderly and feeble McCaleb, who had intended to spend his retirement living on his boat in the Los Angeles harbor, and who can't drive, and has to nap regularly, muster up the endurance to find the killer?

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Plot Keywords:

shot in the back of one's head | 2000s | title same as book | villain not really dead cliche | evil man | 

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Taglines:

He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

9 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deuda de sangre

Filming Locations:

2527 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,312,413, 11 August 2002, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$26,199,517, 13 October 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

Malpaso Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Exists in the same universe as The Lincoln Lawyer (2011).

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Goofs

Several times reference is made to McCaleb having bloodtype AB with CMV-. For transplant patients, CMV means nothing. Of much greater importance would be whether they were both rH- as someone who is rH- would develop antibodies and quickly reject tissue that was rH+.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Detective Arango: [referring to McCaleb at crime scene] Okay, listen. Whatever happens, it'll his face on the front page.

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Connections

References Starsky and Hutch (1975)

User Reviews

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+