Blood Work

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The strength of the picture, directed by Eastwood, is that it has three intersecting story arcs: The investigation, the health issues, and the relationship that builds, step by step.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A violent, improbable movie done in tersely elegant style, and it may be the last action movie for one of the cinema's great action stars, Clint Eastwood.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It lets down in the last act and is probably too mired in serial-murderer-movie formulaics to garner Oscar attention. But it's his tightest, best film since "Unforgiven."

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Eastwood's instinct for creating efficient, adult, mainstream entertainment is virtually unerring. He's still a class act, not to mention craggy, suave, laconic and very, very cool.

The New Yorker David Denby

The movie is a methodical and entirely absorbing thriller, featuring a complicated plot (Brian Helgeland adapted the Michael Connelly novel) in which clues are carefully planted, and understanding slowly gathers in the mind of the hero. [19 & 26 August 2002, p. 174]

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A bracingly no-nonsense, highly professional policier—as proudly old-fashioned as its curmudgeon hero.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Moves along the way its leading man walks along - steady and sure.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

As director of the movie, Eastwood takes a conservative approach, with few of the imaginative touches that have made some of his films – "Bird," "The Eiger Sanction" – so memorable.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Connelly's better-than-routine potboiler has a high-concept premise built for the movies, and it's the first of the former L.A. Times reporter's 11 crime novels to make the journey from bookshelf to big screen.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Eastwood is 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.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Eastwood risks embarrassment flirting with material this naked in its mawkishness, then jumps right in. He seems to want the world to know: Inside the 72-year-old body of this icon of virility beats the heart of a Mexican woman.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

There's a certain pleasure in seeing a thriller that's almost a relic of a bygone era. There's nothing flashy about Blood Work, no in-your-face nihilism, no hot young actors you'd know from the WB network if you ever watched it.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

A wry exercise in geriatric uplift.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

The film still delivers the goods, in part because of Eastwood's iconic presence and in part because of Daniels' scene-stealing work in what could have been a hokey role.

Wall Street Journal Nancy deWolf Smith

In the end, though, it's all about seeing Clint Eastwood; it always was about Clint and always will be. To his fans, he's cool in every role (except, possibly, for that movie with the monkey). He can't help it. We can't help watching.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The 72-year-old star, who is centerscreen throughout, makes this rather far-fetched yarn go down much more easily than it otherwise might have.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Eastwood's earnestness has its own stoic charm. There's something nutty but also heroic in how he plays this macho-man-with-the-heart-of-a-woman premise with a straight face.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

As much as Eastwood ever expresses pleasure about anything, you sense a flicker of gratification that he can work with actors who can hold their own against him. Lifford does it without breaking a sweat. Howard Hawks would have loved her.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

It's always nice to see Clint, and especially nice to see him play someone whose humanity -- no, whose mortality -- is all too apparent.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

There are mysteries and twists in Blood Work, but its real work isn't ratiocination but healing and connection. Outwardly it's a detective story; really it's a tale of the heart.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Certainly merits attention, although it shouldn't be mistaken for one of Eastwood's greatest works.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

It's an intriguing setup, filled with colorful characters, lots of humor and well-developed scenes.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

There's also something to be said for a movie that's content with telling a simple yarn, and telling it well.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Almost nothing comes as a surprise in this stately old fogy of a movie. The pacing is glacial, the screenplay is stiff as a board, and things heat up only in the movie's final scenes.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A major misstep and a disappointment of significant proportions. It may not be a failure for Eastwood the actor, but it's a big one for Eastwood the director.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Eastwood's down-the-middle police procedural Blood Work ranks as his least ambitious work in a decade, anonymous save for his iconic screen presence and a tasteful selection of jazz on the soundtrack.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Has the three elements we've come to expect from Eastwood: the steady pace, the shadowy cinematography and, of course, the presence of the Big Guy.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Ultimately just another Dirty Harry opus.

Slate David Edelstein

What's left is a wan and impersonal whodunnit -- a movie that never gets into your blood.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

At his best, Clint directed as he acted -- sparely, laconically, but concisely, with a clean precision. There are flashes of that trademark style early on, but it soon degenerates badly.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Eastwood has two knacks as a director/producer: He casts smaller roles well, as he did here, and he can establish an atmospheric mood, often an ominous one. But he hasn't much visual style -- for an action star.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's merely glum when it should be bracingly grim.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

If you put the word Tired first, it would perfectly describe the movie.

USA Today Mike Clark

Usually, I'm as slow as the pacing of a movie in figuring out who's done it. If you can't solve this mystery with an hour to go (as I did), better call for a transfusion so a better type of blood will start flowing to your brain.