Critic Reviews
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Typically for Eastwood, there are modest touches to savor.
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
It's mostly a pro forma police procedural spiced by a baroque twist that Eastwood doesn't really know what to do with.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
It doesn't sound bad...but Bloodwork is bad, oh, lordy, yes, it is.
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Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
It can be argued, I suppose, that Blood Work was designed from the outset not so much as a whodunit as a why-and-how-dunit, and here the film becomes metaphysically ingenious.
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Even as it ends in a flurry of absurd plot twists, Blood Work holds you in a vise.
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Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's always nice to see Clint.
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Jaime N. Christley, Slant Magazine
Eastwood's defiantly modest 2002 thriller was about a million miles away from Oscar material, but Warner's high-definition transfer is praiseworthy in and of itself.
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Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
This vehicle—the cinematic equivalent of a supermarket paperback—plays like the best-ever episode of Matlock rather than a truly distinguished feature film. [Blu-ray]
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Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Disappointing, predictable, and graphic.
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Mark Halverson, Sacramento News & Review
The pivotal teaser is a numerical code that baffles experts but gets cracked in one curious gaze by a schoolboy.
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Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Eastwood's sharpest filmmaking since the gig that won him an Oscar.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Master filmmaker Clint Eastwood continues in the classic Howard Hawks/John Ford tradition with unobtrustive direction, relaxed pacing, and strong characters and storytelling.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
The movie could have used a heart transplant of its own, for its ultimate undoing is its minuscule, phoned-in energy level.
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Tony Medley, tonymedley.com
If you like genre films, Blood Work will not disappoint.
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Charlie Brown, FilmStew.com
The talent just isn't there to raise the level of this film past television drama.
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Greg Maki, Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
It's still fun to watch [Eastwood] chase the bad guys, and he still has that indescribable aura about him.
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Kim Newman, Empire Magazine
Very silly: sometimes almost enjoyably so, often just in a tired way.
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Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Blood Work is a lot like a well-made PB & J sandwich: familiar, fairly uneventful and boasting no real surprises - but still quite tasty and inviting all the same.
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John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online
I'm sorry, the guy may be tough, or good-looking, or a respected Hollywood elder, but CLINT EASTWOOD IS NOT A VERY GOOD ACTOR. There, I said it.
Read all 19 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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A crafty, old school and first-class edge of your seat suspense thriller. Clint Eastwood is magnificent, he still has all the right moves as a director and performer. One of the best performances of his career. A well made mystery of the best standards. A gritty, sharp, edgy,… More
A crafty, old school and first-class edge of your seat suspense thriller. Clint Eastwood is magnificent, he still has all the right moves as a director and performer. One of the best performances of his career. A well made mystery of the best standards. A gritty, sharp, edgy, sophisticated and riveting thriller. It hits all the right notes and manages to be stable and engrossing entertainment.
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Unbelievably lazy and cliched film that has nothing new to add for thriller genre. Clint Eastwood is highly over-hyped director and this one again proves that he has done mostly these by the numbers cop-films ifor all his career. You only have to look back to 80s to see how bad he can… More
Unbelievably lazy and cliched film that has nothing new to add for thriller genre. Clint Eastwood is highly over-hyped director and this one again proves that he has done mostly these by the numbers cop-films ifor all his career. You only have to look back to 80s to see how bad he can be. This one again reminds us that the same guy who gave us Mystic River is capable also for these awful pieces of trash.
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Terry McCaleb: Remember how you said I was your friend, and I could tell you the truth? Well I don't need you at all.
"He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer"
Blood Work gets a lot of shit and it is easy to see why. This is a predictable and lazy… More
Terry McCaleb: Remember how you said I was your friend, and I could tell you the truth? Well I don't need you at all.
"He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer"
Blood Work gets a lot of shit and it is easy to see why. This is a predictable and lazy thriller from Eastwood. The plot is interesting enough to make it passable, but when you think Eastwood, you think of high quality films; not this. The supporting cast is extremely bad. Eastwood even seems to be sleepwalking through his role, a role which he has played a hundred times. He plays his standard old detective, who is done with his career, but wants to solve one last case.
A woman comes to McCaleb, a retired FBI man who has just gotten a heart transplant. The woman who comes to him, had a sister killed and that sisters heart went to McCaleb. So he feels that he must help her out, despite objections from his doctor and the authorities. He starts to piece things together, such as linked murders. The killer is also leaving messages, he says at all of his killings, "Happy Valentine's Day."
This is a very average and pretty dull film from Eastwood. It isn't up to par with the majority of his work, but it also isn't his worst. If you're a big fan of Eastwood, it is still worth a look. Bad Eastwood is still decent when you look at what other directors throw out there.
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A run of the mill procedural cop/serial killer movie. The low rating is because of how low on surprises this was. Honestly, it was ridiculously easy to solve. If I'm watching a film about an FBI profiler I shouldn't be 1 hour ahead of him. I worked out the plan, the motive,… More
A run of the mill procedural cop/serial killer movie. The low rating is because of how low on surprises this was. Honestly, it was ridiculously easy to solve. If I'm watching a film about an FBI profiler I shouldn't be 1 hour ahead of him. I worked out the plan, the motive, and the killer within the first 45 minutes. It was annoying watching Clint being so dim and behind the times. It wasn't even represented as him being too old anymore, he was supposed to be one of the best. I guess profiling has come along way in 9 years, or maybe I've just seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds. The lines are cheesy, with Paul Rodriguez giving an awful performance of your run of the mill antagonist cop. Wanda De Jesus was simply selfish in asking for Eastwood's help, and there's even a scene where a child is ahead of Eastwood in the investigation. I'm very surprised that Eastwood directed this, as it was so plain. I hear they changed details from the books, which is no big deal, but they even changed the identity of the killer. Probably why it was so obvious, as no thought had been put into the reveal.
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A chilling movie with a predictable plot, good acting, great concept, interesting conclusion. So basically, Im glad I saw it.
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A good story which was set up well but it just didn't follow through. I wasn't too interested in the characters and their journeys but it was interesting to watch.
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I watched this for the second time recently - the first time being perhaps 7 years ago. It didn't take long before I remembered who did the whodunit, and it became frustrating that it was taking so long for Clint's character to decipher the clues. It is worth watching… More
I watched this for the second time recently - the first time being perhaps 7 years ago. It didn't take long before I remembered who did the whodunit, and it became frustrating that it was taking so long for Clint's character to decipher the clues. It is worth watching once. At least Clint Eastwood plays his age as a retired FBI man with a transplanted heart.
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It might not have anything on Dirty Harry or most of the sequels, but this is still a really rewarding murder mystery. Clint Eastwood shows that he can still get the bad guys and strike fear into everyone with his new Mexican Heart. It's well written, well shot and not overly… More
It might not have anything on Dirty Harry or most of the sequels, but this is still a really rewarding murder mystery. Clint Eastwood shows that he can still get the bad guys and strike fear into everyone with his new Mexican Heart. It's well written, well shot and not overly ambitious or clever. It's a movie for people who just want to enjoy a good old nail biter.
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excellently written and very interesting, but at the same time it was a bit easy to figure out, contained a pointless and contrived romance, and featured a few actors that turned in sub par performances. overall definitely worth the watch, but its unbelievable how much eastwood… More
excellently written and very interesting, but at the same time it was a bit easy to figure out, contained a pointless and contrived romance, and featured a few actors that turned in sub par performances. overall definitely worth the watch, but its unbelievable how much eastwood improved as a director in just a few short years after this when he hit his stride.
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This was a good movie with a good script and good actors. It's very by the book and enjoyable. The only issue comes at the very end of the movie when the bad guy goes from cool and calculated to giggly and comical.
There is also a romantic element to the movie that wasn't… More
This was a good movie with a good script and good actors. It's very by the book and enjoyable. The only issue comes at the very end of the movie when the bad guy goes from cool and calculated to giggly and comical.
There is also a romantic element to the movie that wasn't really needed.
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A retired FBI agent investigates the murder of the woman whose heart he received in a transplant operation. Clint continues the theme of tough guys dealing with old age he began in In The Line Of Fire and completed with Gran Torino. The ridiculous premise of this tired bag of genre… More
A retired FBI agent investigates the murder of the woman whose heart he received in a transplant operation. Clint continues the theme of tough guys dealing with old age he began in In The Line Of Fire and completed with Gran Torino. The ridiculous premise of this tired bag of genre cliches is just the first of many laughably familiar contrivances that leads to the film feeling like a parody of itself; this is one of those films you spend watching the bumbling cops and shouting "Have you never SEEN a serial killer movie??!" It's absurdly predictable from beginning to end, from the blatant identity of the killer (because he is, as ever, the one you are supposed to least suspect) to the ludicrous love interest and finale in which Mr Psycho kidnaps Clint's nearest and dearest and tries to mow him down with an assault rifle even though he has spent the rest of the film taking such extreme pains to keep him alive. The clues are all dangled in front of the audience's nose with clumsy flashbacks and some of the dialogue (particularly during the painful love scene) is cringeworthy. Clint's reliability both in front of and behind the camera keeps it the right side of watchable (just) but there are a lot of very similar SK movies that are much better than this.
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i loved it its a brilliant action thriller wth twists really should watch the endding is so unexpected!!
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An original take on a serial killer film, not particular tense for a thriller and a little slow moving, but a much enjoyed story all the same.
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Hands up: Who didn't pick Jeff Daniels as the killer? Anyone...? Anyone...?
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Good suspense-thriller that vintage Eastwood - swift, suprising and very, very exciting.
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A chilling movie with a predictable plot, good acting, great concept, interesting conclusion. So basically, Im glad I saw it.
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It's low for a Clint Eastwood film, but not at all uninteresting. It's just a harmless predictable movie.
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It's low for a Clint Eastwood film, but not at all uninteresting. It's just a harmless predictable movie.
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Clint Eastwood's really boring movie.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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