Blood Work

OPENS DECEMBER 27, CERT 15, 110 MINS

Clint Eastwood's 23rd film as director and 44th as star features a more relevant statistic than those. He's 72, and he's chosen a vehicle that partly—only partly—owns up to it. Based on a thriller by Michael Connolly, the film shares the writer's narrative drive, cunning plot twists and basic implausibility. Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) is an FBI profiler who suffers a heart attack in pursuit of a serial killer. While recuperating from a transplant, he's approached by Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) to track down the hold-up man who killed her sister in a convenience store. Retired and recuperating on his boat in San Pedro harbour, he turns her down until she hits him with the news that he's wearing her sister's heart...

Clint is convincing as the fragile ex-cop with moments of renaissance worthy of Will Munny in Unforgiven. He doesn't win punch-ups, but we do get him advancing down an LA boulevard firing a shotgun and—a laughable moment—in bare embrace, vertical scar from wattled throat to navel, with Graciella. The urge to shout "I gotta get my pills!" was nearly overwhelming.

Rating: 3 / 10