Blood Work (2002)

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Wanda De Jesús, Tina Lifford, Anjelica Huston, Paul Rodriguez, Dylan Walsh, Alix Koromzay, Rick Hoffman. [R]

Eastwood is surprisingly laidback playing a former FBI agent who retired after getting a heart transplant, only to be called back into action by the sister (De Jesús) of the woman whose heart he received. His task? Solve the dead woman’s murder, of course. Credulity is bludgeoned multiple times before the main plot even kicks in, so at least there’s early warning to buckle in and lower expectations—it’s going to be a preposterous ride. Full of embarrassing lines of dialogue (“You have Gloria’s heart, she’ll guide you,” promises the sis) and inane interludes with Huston’s sharp-tongued and thoroughly unconvincing doctor, a pair of hostile detectives who are as good at insults as Eastwood’s character is at running marathons, and so on. The identity of the killer is easily guessed (if not outright assumed) simply by asking who the most superfluous character is by the halfway point. Scripted by Brian Helgeland from a Michael Connelly novel.

35/100