Blood Work: An Anemic Affair Of The Heart
Blood Work
Rated R * Now Playing
Kent's grade: C
Carol's grade: C+
THE PLOT:
While pursuing a serial killer, FBI profiler Terry McCaleb (Clint Eastwood) suffers a debilitating heart attack. Forced to retire, the murderer he hunts fades away.
Two years later, McCaleb is recovering from a heart transplant when Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) approaches him for help in finding her sister's murderer.
Rebuffing her, he finds that Rivers' sister was the heart donor that saved his life. Pushed by guilt, he undertakes an investigation that will lead him to the brink of death and into the web of the serial
killer who has lain dormant for two years.
KENT'S TAKE:
"Blood Work" is a lot like a Willie Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper. It's sweet on the outside but as you reach the center it turns sour. This murder mystery is a first rate yarn with an intricate plot and a fascinating trail that leads you into a dangerous and creepy world of watchers and the watched. Using intuition and his acute sense for
detail, McCaleb "reads" a crime scene better than anyone.
However, "Blood Work" turns anemic in three areas. One vital weakness comes in its predictability. My wife and I picked up on the killer as soon as the character was introduced. That's not unusual for my intuitive wife, but it is for me.
Secondly, the foreshadowing of clues is entirely too obvious and stood out like a sore thumb.
Lastly, the formulaic ending was done better in several films made a decade ago. With bullets flying, quiet stalking in the dark and victims that show indifference to their captivity, this climax is disappointing and doesn't mesh with the smart story.
I've been an Eastwood fan since "High Plains Drifter" but the actor is not convincing as a hard-nosed FBI agent with a soft heart. It's the sympathetic aspect of his character that I have a problem with.
His heart condition is a nice touch and imbues his character with both the fuel to propel his quest and the time limit to increase the stakes. Yet his condition, an important factor throughout the movie, falls to the wayside as the finale approaches and is totally ignored in the end. The rest of the cast are bit-players to Eastwood's McCaleb. Their poor development calls too much attention to clues and twists.
"Blood Work" will do wonderfully as a rental and I recommend it as such. Yet, having a very good investigation ruined by less-than-stellar acting, and a poor ending, is a crime in itself.
CAROL'S TAKE:
Through the years, Clint Eastwood has helped define the quintessential American movie hero as a man unencumbered by emotional ties, a reluctant but able performer, the loner with deep convictions who can't play by anyone's rules but his own. Terry McCaleb is one such man.
He is also a star profiler, and media darling. His celebrity makes him the natural counterpart of a serial criminal known as the "code killer." Only McCaleb's weak heart can stop him from bringing the murderer to justice. And, it does just that.
"Blood Work" is a well-made movie, but it's sorely uneven. Background is not set up sufficiently to stabilize present-time action.
Exposition is wasted on material that doesn' move the action forward. The story bogs down as McCaleb tries to keep himself healthy as he untangles clues.
Movie audiences always struggle to figure out "who-done-it," but really, they don't want to know. Instead, they yearn for a dazzling twist, the "ah-ha" at the end that collects viewers together into a
grateful, fawning mob.
Unfortunately, "Blood Work" is not clever enough to conceal the truth - after a certain point, the events can only lead to one conclusion.
Red herrings manage to confuse the characters in the story, but not the tired viewer.
As always, Eastwood is a pleasure to watch when he's on the screen.
In addition, his interactions with Jeff Daniels (as his neighbor) and Tina Lifford (as a detective) are strong; both actors are believable in their parts. Other characters, and the actors who play them, are less effective - and bleed credibility out of the project.
Like thrillers from another era, "Blood Work" sets out to build slowly and purposefully toward a satisfying conclusion. Sadly, it's a little too slow, and its purpose is a little too muddled to succeed.
© 2002 Webster-Kirkwood Times, Inc.
Movie reviews by Carol Hemphill and Kent Tentschert
reelworld@timesnewspapers.com