Blood Work

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Blood Work follows retired FBI agent Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) as he reluctantly agrees to look into the murder of a young woman. Filmmaker Eastwood, armed with a script by Brian Helgeland, delivers a predictably deliberate endeavor that benefits from its compelling mystery and assortment of first-class performances, as, in terms of the latter, Eastwood offers up an easygoing and thoroughly commanding turn that goes a long way towards anchoring the proceedings and compensating for its periodic lulls – with the actor’s top-notch efforts certainly matched by eclectic periphery players like Anjelica Huston, Rick Hoffman, and Wanda De Jesús. (Jeff Daniels, however, injects the picture with a jolt of energy during each and every one of his scenes as Terry’s quirky neighbor and driver.) And while the resolution of said mystery is perhaps not as shocking as Eastwood has intended, Blood Work, despite an overly frenetic, action-packed climax, generally comes off as an agreeable piece of work that effectively adapts Michael Connelly’s (admittedly superior) novel for the silver screen.

*** out of ****