2002, R, 108 minutes

What you have to appreciate about Clint Eastwood is that the films he appears in are rarely stinkers and at the very least are always somewhat entertaining. With a large portion of the action and thriller genres turning to more effects and less story, Eastwood proves to remain unchanged, offering another intelligent and well-crafted picture. Based on the popular novel by crime writer Michael Connelly, Blood Work may not be a great film, but it is a solid and competent one.

Although the film suffers from a few problems, in the end the excellent plot is what makes it worth watching. Eastwood plays an FBI agent named McCaleb who suffers a heart attack, forcing him into retirement. When he receives a heart transplant, he is guilt-tripped into investigating the murder of the woman whose death allowed his life to be prolonged. This makes for a very original story, and as the investigation continues, including the examination of another incident that may or may not be related, the plot only becomes more interesting.

While Blood Work really has no major deep-rooted flaws, there are a number of superficial annoyances from time to time, the most obvious being a contrived and completely unnecessary romance. Ten years ago when Eastwood was in movies wooing women half his age (such as co-star Renee Russo in In the Line of Fire) it was already becoming ridiculous, but as he approaches seventy this trend is downright absurd and also detracts from an otherwise great story. When is he going to realize he's not thirty anymore and hasn't been for quite some time? Another irritation is the Doctor portrayed by Anjelica Huston. Obviously it makes sense for her to be concerned about her patient being too active shortly after receiving a transplant, but she gets far too emotional over it, as if McCaleb was the only patient she's ever had. She's a great actress, but I found myself cringing whenever she was on screen. Jeff Daniels, on the other hand, supplies the film with a little bit of humor and is enjoyable to watch as the inexperienced, slacker side-kick.

What I enjoyed most about the film was that it truly kept me guessing until the very end. I thought I knew who the killer was early on and was going to trash Eastwood (who directed as well) for making it so damn obvious, but he ends up using a typical thriller cliché and turns it on its head to trick the audience. When the big twist finally arrives, it's satisfying not only for shock value, but also because it complies with the rest of the story and we don't feel cheated.

I recommend Blood Work to moviegoers who tend to enjoy good old-fashioned detective stories, and won't mind a few clichés considering most of it is pretty unique. So long as you don't figure out the twist in advance, it should keep you guessing throughout.