Clint Eastwood refuses to fade away gracefully, or any other way. He has too much kick, too much gusto left to disappear from his 47-year Hollywood career.
The 72-year-old Eastwood has been acting since he made his debut in bit parts in Tarantula, Revenge Of The Creature, Lady Godiva and Francis In The Navy, all in 1955.
He has been directing many of his own movies since 1971, when he was at the helm of Play Misty For Me. Opening today is Blood Work, Eastwood's 23rd film as a director.
The new film is a police thriller. Conjure up Dirty Harry nearing retirement (Eastwood still plays a decade younger). As an FBI agent specializing in profiling dangerous psychotics, he is tracking a serial killer who taunts him with messages. But just as he has a big break at a crime scene and spots the killer watching him do his work, he suffers a heart attack and nearly dies, as the killer watches.
Flash forward two years. Eastwood's now retired detective has just gone through a heart-transplant operation and spends his days in leisure, tending to his live-in boat moored at a marina in the Los Angeles area where he once worked.
But his idyll changes dramatically when he meets a distraught woman (played by veteran character actress Wanda De Jesus, who is also Jimmy Smits' gal-pal). She happens to be the sister of a murdered woman who had signed her donor card. Guess whose heart is in Eastwood's chest?
De Jesus coerces Eastwood to investigate her sister's murder case, which she thinks has been bungled by the Los Angeles Police Department, especially by a mouthy, arrogant cop (Paul Rodriguez) who used to bait Eastwood.
The scene is set for a lengthy, methodical and convoluted murder investigation that broadens out into a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes. And Eastwood's Terrell McCaleb is just the man for the job, if he can avoid stressing his new heart and dropping dead during his escalating adventure.
As usual, Eastwood directs without getting too fancy, although there is a clumsy dream-death sequence that flashes a negative image on screen. Otherwise, you notice his fondness for lower light levels, in both day and night scenes. Makes it more moody and less like Hollywood. The pace of the movie is extremely slow, even boring.
As for the story, which originated in the Michael Connelly novel and was adapted to the screen by Brian Helgeland, it has some nifty twists, especially because of the heart issue. But, ultimately, it is also surprisingly predictable. It is a mere genre picture, especially in the shoot-'em-up climax.
The acting is good, but not outstanding. Eastwood is always interesting and actually talks a lot in the movie, getting all philosophical. Jeff Daniels plays his marina neighbour as a doofus, one step away from Dumb And Dumber.
As for the women, Anjelica Huston is a pistol as the heart doctor and Tina Lifford is strong as a detective. But De Jesus pushes the bounds of credibility, especially when she makes a sexual play for Eastwood. It doesn't ring true.
Then again, this is just a routine police thriller, after all.
(More on Blood Work)
(This film is rated AA)
More Movie Reviews
