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BLOOD WORK
"...a bracingly no-nonsense, highly professional policier--as proudly
old-fashioned as its curmudgeon hero...Continuing to contemplate
his own mortality, Eastwood casts himself as a celebrity FBI agent
who suffers a coronary on the job, receives a heart transplant,
and emerges from his houseboat retirement once he discovers that
his donor was the victim of an unsolved murder... Moody and succinct,
'Blood Work' cuts quicker to the chase than the star's recent genre
films." --
J. Hoberman,
The Village Voice
"Like 'Space Cowboys,' 'Blood Work' is a wry exercise in geriatric
uplift. The world (and the movie audience) may be enchanted by the
flash and dazzle of youth, but the old-timers are tougher, wiser and,
heart transplant or no, sexier, too...His filmmaking is efficient
to the point of drabness...as relentlessly linear as a stretch of
desert highway, which means you can see what's coming from miles away...But
even though he gives the game away, Mr. Eastwood remains a pretty
smooth player, and what 'Blood Work' lacks in speed and surprise it
almost makes up for in doughty professionalism." -- A.O.
Scott, The New York Times
"...a sturdy, if dawdling, old-fashioned adding-up-the-clues mystery
that turns out to be one or two notches cleverer than you expect;
it's tasty and diverting genre popcorn...the canniest aspect of 'Blood
Work' is the way that it makes the issue of Eastwood's age (he's 72)
genuinely dramatic...He's now playing a man whose will is stronger
than his body, and it's that tension--between anger and frailty, steel
and decay--that powers the movie." --Owen
Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"Unlike some action stars who want to remain supermen forever, Eastwood
has paid attention to his years, and found stories to exploit them...There
is action and violence in 'Blood Work,' but not the pumped-up, computer-aided
pyrotechnics of so many of Hollywood's summer thrillers...Eastwood
has directed himself in 20 films, and that may represent the most
consistent director-actor relationship in modern movies. He knows
himself, he knows his craft, his pride as a director is dominant over
his ego as an actor, and the results are films that use a star aura
with an uncommon degree of intimacy." --Roger
Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"As he ages as an actor, Eastwood, like Paul Newman, uses an economy
of means to remain as compelling as he ever was. He thoroughly knows
his core persona, and he has honed his trademark look of disgust until
it's one of the most vivid ever put on screen. But Eastwood's directing
has also been affected by his age. You don't know whether to admire
the film's stately nature and call it classicism or be exasperated
by a noticeable lack of pace...The flip side of classicism is lethargy,
and 'Blood Work' can be so complacently paced you may want to give
it a shot of Red Bull." --Kenneth
Turan, The Los Angeles Times
"It's an intriguing setup, filled with colorful characters, lots of
humor and well-developed scenes...But for his 23rd film as a director,
Eastwood makes some clumsy camera moves that tip off the identity
of the culprit way too early--That's a major debit in a thriller,
as is the tired chase through a derelict ship at the climax." --Lou
Lumenick, The New York Post
"Like the fine old shoe that he is, Clint Eastwood is all wrinkles
and comfort in the role of retired FBI agent Terry McCaleb...Clint
squints menacingly, but doesn't kick a lot of butt here. And his directing
of this kind of material also has mellowed." --Jack
Mathews, The New York Daily News
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