Back when we originally reviewed 2002’s Blood Work, we opined that it represented then-72-year-old Clint Eastwood as a filmmaker on the cusp of retirement. Oops.

2021’s Cry Macho represented Eastwood’s 19th movie since our premature declaration of his career’s end. With nothing else currently listed on his IMDB page as an upcoming project, Macho might finally represent the end of Eastwood’s journey, but as long as he draws breath, we won’t make another statement in regard to his final flick.

When he chases a murder suspect, Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) suffers a heart attack. Two years later, we find Terry retired during his continued recovery from a heart transplant.

Terry’s past comes back to haunt him when he finds out that he uses the heart from homicide victim Gloria Rivers after her sister Graciella (Wanda De Jesus) contacts him. Terry suspects a serial killer and comes back from retirement to find the criminal.

Blood Work followed the path Eastwood utilized as he entered his elderly days. In these parts, Eastwood used his age to his advantage.

With Work, Eastwood offers up a straightforward and rather undemanding thriller that relies more on plot than it does on rapid-fire edits, fights, and explosions. The film provides viewers with an unadorned, methodical and reasonably involving drama that has been done one too many times.

After watching the film, I felt like you could have substituted “Ashley Judd” on the marquee for “Clint Eastwood” and you would have come up with about the same film. It’s not the film seems bad in and of itself, but it’s just that I expect a lot more from Eastwood than I do from Judd.

I never caught the film during its theatrical run, as I knew the kind of film Blood Work would turn out to be. That meant a professional but unmemorable thriller.

There aren’t a whole lot of surprises in Blood Work and most folks with a semi-functional brain will have the plot twists and turns figured out long before the film decides to deliver them. The film unwinds at a lackluster pace and lets things happen in an orderly and systematic timeline.

The plot feels somewhat banal, the characters become mired in clichés, and the movie rarely registers on the ”suspense meter”. However, many of you already know what to expect before going in to this one and if that’s the case, you’ll hardly find yourself disappointed from this predictable but watchable thriller.

Blood Work appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a great image, the picture usually worked fine.

During darker shots, some noise reduction appeared to come into play, and that resulted in a few elements that came across as a bit soft and awkward. Most of the film displayed pretty good delineation, though, even if it didn’t show great accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to occur.

Work came with a fairly natural palette, albeit one that leaned a little blue at times. Still, it usually offered a more realistic sense of tones, and the Blu-ray made them look reasonably appealing.

Blacks felt dark and tight, while shadows offered good clarity. Nothing here excelled but the image seemed largely satisfactory.

As a crime procedural, Blood Work offered a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack heavy on atmosphere. This meant a good sense of place throughout the movie.

That said, the mix kicked to life during the film’s occasional action-oriented scenes. Others like the opening crime location allowed for involving information like helicopters and whatnot, all of which helped make this a pretty engaging soundscape, if not a great one.

Audio quality seemed positive, with speech that remained natural and concise. Music offered appealing range and clarity as well.

Effects came across as accurate and full, with nice low-end as appropriate. Expect a soundtrack that suited the story well.

In addition to two trailers, the disc comes with two featurettes. Making Blood Work runs 18 minutes, eight seconds and comes with comments from actor/director Clint Eastwood and actors Jeff Daniels, Anjelica Huston, Wanda De Jesus, and Paul Rodriguez,

Here we look at the source and its adaptation for the screen, story and characters, cast and performances. A few minor insights result but this mostly feels like promotional material.

A Conversation in Spanish with Actors Clint Eastwood, Wanda De Jesus, and Paul Rodriguez provides… a conversation in Spanish with actors Clint Eastwood, Wanda De Jesus, and Paul Rodriguez. Let’s hear it for truth in advertising!

The three actors discuss their roles and performances. Though the title implies a joint chat, instead we find individual interviews most of the time.

Rodriguez and De Jesus do sit together for a little while, and Eastwood joins them briefly – and doesn’t speak Spanish. These comments fail to become illuminating, as the subjects largely stick with superficial elements similar to those from the prior featurette.

As a crime procedural, Blood Work stakes out little new ground despite a twist related to the health of the lead character. Still, Clint Eastwood creates a moderately efficient and engaging thriller abetted by a strong cast. The Blu-ray comes with fairly good picture and audio as well as modest bonus materials. Nothing here excels but Work becomes a generally enjoyable tale.

To rate this film visit the DVD review of the BLOOD WORK