Blood Work

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Tom Stern behind the camera. Lennie Niehaus scores. Joel Cox cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
• 2Earned back only 64% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 3Released 24 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 5Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Clint Eastwood and Jeff Daniels and Anjelica Huston carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0309377 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 12 themes, including "based on novel or book", "heart", "police", "houseboat".

The technical file

Cinematography

Tom Stern

Original score

Lennie Niehaus

Editing

Joel Cox

Production design

Henry Bumstead

Costume design

Deborah Hopper

Makeup / hair

Francisco X. Pérez

Sound

Tom Johnson

Stunt coordinator

Buddy Van Horn

Runtime

110 min · 1h 50m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$50,000,000

Box office

$31,794,718

Return

64% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Blood Work (2002) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

52% 🥫 Rotten

Metacritic

64/100

IMDB rating

6.4/10 · 50,228 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Clint Eastwood

• 
  Gran Torino

  2008 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Million Dollar Baby

  2004 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Unforgiven

  1992 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Mystic River

  2003 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Bridges of Madison County

  1995 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Changeling

  2008 · ★ 7.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Blood Work - Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  BLOODWORK (2002) Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2019-03-07
  ★ 6/10

  Dirty Harry’s final case (not really, but seems like it) Recovering from a heart transplant, a retired FBI profiler (Clint Eastwood) takes a case as a private investigator because of his amazing link to one of the victims. Jeff Daniels plays his amusing neighbor, a dock bum, while Wanda De Jesus appears as his potential girlfriend. “Blood Work” (2002) was based on a Michael Connelly novel and his corresponding protagonist, Terry McCaleb, but the movie comes across as Dirty Harry’s final case after retirement, sorta like “Gran Torino” (2008) was akin to “Dirty Harry, the Golden Years.” Eastwood was 71 during shooting, but his character is roughly eight years younger and he pulls it off. I point this out to stress that he’s no longer kick-axx Dirty Harry. This is an aged, retired and recovering detective working on what is likely his last case. A lot of dialog is devoted to emphasizing how over-the-hill he is and how horrible he looks. So, while this is a gritty big city detective flick in the mold of Dirty Harry, it’s way more subdued and mature. It’s more dramatic and less compelling. If you can roll with that, it’s a decent detective movie. It’s relatively realistic until the ending, which features a twist that I didn’t foresee (although others say they did). The climax is unlikely and smacks of a typical Hollywood ending. “A Simple Plan” (1998) did the same thing: a believable story that takes a “Yeah, right” turn at the close. The film runs 1 hour, 50 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area. Anjelica Huston also appears as a doctor while Paul Rodriguez is on hand as a cranky Hispanic detective. GRADE: C+/B-

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2022-02-08
  ★ 7/10

  Good entertainment. I like the plot of <em>'Blood Work'</em>. I'm unsure if it would hold up if you went through with a fine-tooth comb, but it certainly gave me the required enjoyment levels. Clint Eastwood gives a sturdy performance, as do Jeff Daniels and Wanda De Jesus; elsewhere on the cast, neat to see Anjelica Huston and Rick Hoffman, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Suits_characters#:~:text=Faye%20to%20leave.-,Louis%20Litt,-%5Bedit%5D" rel="nofollow">Louis Litt</a> himself, appear in smaller roles. It's not as unpredictable as it perhaps thinks it is, due to the casting more than anything, but I had a fun enough time with it.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Malpaso Productions

  US

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerRobert Lorenz
• ProducerClint Eastwood
• NovelMichael Connelly
• EditorJoel Cox
• Stunt CoordinatorBuddy Van Horn
• Set DecorationRichard C. Goddard
• Still PhotographerMerie Weismiller Wallace
• Script SupervisorMable Lawson-McCrary
• Production DesignHenry Bumstead
• Art DirectionJack G. Taylor Jr.
• Sound Effects EditorBeau Borders
• Costume DesignDeborah Hopper
• Sound Effects EditorJason King
• Steadicam OperatorStephen S. Campanelli
• CastingPhyllis Huffman
• Sound Re-Recording MixerTom Johnson
• Sound Re-Recording MixerChristopher Boyes
• Assistant EditorGary D. Roach
• Sound Effects EditorPaul C. Warschilka
• Sound Effects EditorEileen Horta
• Sound Effects EditorHoward Neiman
• Sound Effects EditorGlenn Hoskinson
• Assistant EditorMichael Cipriano
• Sound Effects EditorDoug Jackson

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• heart
• police
• houseboat
• investigation
• ex-cop
• murder
• serial killer
• heart transplant
• armed robbery
• blood donor
• good versus evil

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2002-08-06· Burbank, California
• Theatrical2002-08-09R
• Physical2002-12-27R· DVD
• Physical2012-06-05R· Blu-ray

Also known as

International titles

• Blood Work - BlutschuldDE
• Krvná pomstaSK
• Deuda de sangreES
• 血腥工作CN
• 血腥拼图CN
• Blood Work - Dívida de SanguePT