"BLOOD WORK" (2002) (Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Heavy Extreme Heavy Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Minor Extreme None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate None Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama/Thriller: A retired FBI profiler agrees to investigate an unsolved murder after being contacted by the victim's sister and learning that his donor heart came from her. PLOT: Terry McCaleb (CLINT EASTWOOD) is a retired FBI profiler who's focusing more on recovering from his recent heart transplant than on an unsolved serial murder case from two years back where the Code Killer taunted him. Told to take it easy by his cardiologist, Dr. Bonnie Fox (ANJELICA HUSTON), Terry plans on hanging out on his boat-cum-house, but an unexpected visit from Graciella Rivers (WANDA De JESUS) changes all of that. It seems that she's the sister of a convenience store murder victim and wants him to help find the killer. He's initially reluctant, but when he learns that his donated heart came from that victim, he feels that he must at least look into the case. LAPD detectives Ronaldo Arrango (PAUL RODRIGUEZ) and John Waller (DYLAN WALSH) are reluctant to help due to their antagonistic history with him, but do show him the surveillance camera footage that caught the murder on tape. Collecting some clues from that, Terry then sets out to see his good friend Jaye Winston (TINA LIFFORD) who works for the Sheriff's department and learns that another similar murder took place two weeks prior to his case. With the aid of marina neighbor Buddy Noone (JEFF DANIELS) who drives him around, Terry starts digging for more clues, interviewing witnesses such as James Lockridge (RICH HOFFMAN) and interrogating potential suspects such as Russian worker Bolotov (IGOR JIJIKINE). As he does so, he gets to know Graciella and her young nephew, Raymond (MASON LUCERO), and feels an increased urgency to solve the case. As he tries to do just that, he slowly begins to piece together the clues that soon lead him into an unexpected discovery about the killer's identity and true motive. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Older teens might be interested in it, but unless they or others are fans of Eastwood or someone else in the cast, many kids might just pass on this offering. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For violence and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: To avoid giving away any plot surprises, only the basic characteristics are noted here. CLINT EASTWOOD plays a former FBI profiler and recent heart transplant recipient who agrees to look into a murder case since he has the victim's heart in his chest. He bends the rules and lies a bit about who he's working for while trying to solve the case. He also apparently sleeps with Graciella. JEFF DANIELS plays Terry's marina neighbor, a slacker who sits around drinking beer and drives Terry around. He also uses some strong profanity. WANDA De JESUS plays a murder victim's sister who won't quit until she knows who killed her sibling. Thus, she persuades Terry to help and ends up sleeping with him. ANJELICA HUSTON plays Terry's cardiologist who isn't happy that he's taken on a new case and thus is endangering his health. She uses some profanity. TINA LIFFORD plays a sheriff and friendly acquaintance of Terry's who helps him with his case. PAUL RODRIGUEZ plays an LAPD detective who doesn't like Terry or his involvement in any of the cases. He uses strong profanity. MASON LUCERO plays Graciella's orphaned nephew. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated dramatic thriller. Profanity consists of at least 8 uses of the "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Some sexually related dialogue is present, while an off-screen sexual encounter is implied (we see some brief kissing and caressing beforehand, and then a couple in bed afterwards). Violence includes footage of various people being shot and killed, or views of already murdered people (with bloody results). Some of those moments (including surveillance tape footage of execution-style murders) and some late in the game cat and mouse scenes might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to viewers (especially those with low tolerance levels for such material). Other non-lethal violence (some struggling, shooting at others) also occurs. Meanwhile, various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, some drinking occurs and alcohol is seen, while some tense family material is also present (related to murders of family victims). Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with flashes of light on the screen, some brief and partial moments of that occur as some light reflects/shimmers on some water and causes that flashing effect. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see a bunch of beer cans behind Buddy as he sits on his boat. We see bottles of liquor behind the counter in a convenience store. Buddy has a beer. Buddy has a beer from a six-pack he's pulled from the water and then tells Terry that he wants to be paid in cases of beer per hour for babysitting Raymond. Buddy later states that Terry owes him seven cases, but that he'll just take two. Graciella appears to have wine. BLOOD/GORE We see a bloody sheet covering most of a murder victim, but we do see a bloody arm and lots of blood on the wall. The squeamish might not like two scenes where a catheter is removed from Terry's neck during medical testing (we don't actually see it in contact with the skin, but the removal motion is seen). We also see a large post-surgery scar on Terry's chest. We see black and white surveillance camera footage of a double murder that briefly shows some blood squirting from the side of a woman's head after being shot on the other side (we later see this again). We also see another shot of that that shows blood on the floor around the victim's head. Other separate footage of another murder also briefly shows blood squirting out in another execution style murder. We see where blood has been on the sidewalk at a previous murder scene (we see the stain). Terry has a nightmare where he's the victim of a shooting where a masked man shoots him several times in the chest (shown in a surrealistic fashion with the negative image of black and white footage). During that, we see some bloody bullet hole wounds in his shirt (most in that negative black and white footage, although some occasional, standard color shots are briefly seen). We see that a man has been shot dead (there's blood from the bullet hole in his head). Terry and Jaye find another bloody murder victim (with blood on the carpet as well and we hear that her throat was slit). We see another new murder victim with a bloody bullet hole wound to his head (with a trickle of blood down from it). A man's shirtsleeve is bloody after he's shot in the arm. Blood drips down onto the windshield of a boat. A man has blood on his face and clothing. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The killer obviously has an extreme case of bad attitudes and for referring to a dead woman as a "spic" and "wetback." Arrango has a bad, confrontational attitude toward Terry. Terry bends the rules and lies about who he's working for while doing his investigative work. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers. Terry chases after the killer through alleyways at night, but then appears to be having a heart attack and collapses to the street. We see black and white surveillance camera footage of a double murder (the camera is a distance away from the acts). In it, a masked man walks up in a convenience store, puts his arm around a woman's neck and shoots her point-blank in the head (with a bit of blood squirting out the other side) and then shoots the owner several times in the chest. We then see black and white surveillance camera footage of another murder where a masked man walks up and shoots a man at an ATM point-blank in the head. A man's hand suddenly reaches out and touches Terry's shoulder at a previous murder scene. Terry has a nightmare where he's the victim of a shooting where a masked man shoots him several times in the chest (shown in a surrealistic fashion with the negative image of black and white footage). As Terry and Graciella talk, we see that young Raymond has found Terry's handgun and is slowly pulling it from a backpack (but nothing happens). We see someone walking along Terry's boat and night and he hears such footsteps and slowly goes to investigate. Terry discovers that the suspect has kidnapped Graciella and Raymond and threatens to kill them if Terry doesn't let him go. Terry's several minute, cat and mouse encounter with the suspect on a dark and abandoned ship (with exchanges of gunfire and tight confines) might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to viewers. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotgun/Machine gun: Carried or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Ted F*cking Bundy," "What the f*ck /are you talking about/is it to you/does that mean in English?" "F*ck you," "You've got to be sh*tting me," "Here we go again with the same old sh*t," "I would sh*t my shorts," "You look like sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "We're sh*t in the bottom of somebody's shoe," "Toss your ass right out of here," "Will you knock off the crap?" "Balls" (testicles), "Screwed up," "Stands out like a whore in a church," "Putz," "Who the hell are you?" "Shut up," "You look like crap," "Loser," "This sucks," "Dumb bastard," "You better get an ass transplant, cuz I'm going to tear you a new one," "You sick son of a bitch," "Chick" (woman), "Spic" and "Wetback" (what the suspect calls a woman), "Get the hell out of here," "This Mexican's gonna kick your ass" and "You're out of your G*ddamn mind." JUMP SCENES A man's hand suddenly reaches out and touches Terry's shoulder at a previous murder scene. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 8 "f" words, 15 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("banging"), 1 slang term for male genitals ("d*ck"), 6 S.O.B.s, 5 hells, 4 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 craps, 2 damns, 5 uses of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "Jesus," "Oh my God" and "For the love of God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY A comment is made about "a hell of a gang-bang" at a murder scene, but it's not clear if that's meant in a sexual fashion, or just referring to two murders. Arrango, however, mockingly jokes that McCaleb and the serial killer he's after should "get a room" after the killer has left him another taunting "love note." Graciella shows some cleavage in a low-cut top. After Terry angrily says that someone is trying to jerk them off (nonsexual), Arrango jokingly says that he personally likes being "jerked off." He then tauntingly tells Terry to go and get a "d*ck" transplant. Terry offers for Graciella and Raymond to spend the night on the boat in their own berth. She then gets out of bed after Raymond appears to be asleep and quietly goes to Terry's cabin where she finds him shirtless, looking at his chest scar in the mirror. She then runs her hand along his body and kisses the side of his face and chest. The two then kiss, but the scene ends there until we see the two in bed later (she's partially lying on his chest and we see her bare back - thus sex is implied). The suspect comments on something Terry earlier said (about his job and having nothing to do with anything sexual) and comments, "I almost came when you said that." A person wonders if Terry's organ donor ever imagined that her heart would be pumping blood through some guy who would end up "banging" her sister. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Raymond's mother was murdered and his father isn't around, so he lives with his aunt. Graciella still deals with her sister's murder, while a widow does the same about her husband's murder sometime in the past. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Those who try to solve murders. Serial killers. Heart transplants. Donating blood (some kids might get the wrong ideas about that as that's the way the killer chooses his victims - by their blood type). VIOLENCE While we don't see the actual murder, we do see a bloody sheet covering most of a murder victim, but we do see a bloody arm and lots of blood on the wall. While chasing after the killer at night through various alleyways, etc., Terry knocks over a wooden fence, but after a while his heart gives him troubles and he collapses to the street after grabbing the man by his foot as he tries to scale a fence. He does, however, get off many shots at the killer and apparently hits him with one (although the killer gets away). We see black and white surveillance camera footage of a double murder (the camera is a distance away from the acts). In it, a masked man walks up in a convenience store, puts his arm around a woman's neck and shoots her point-blank in the head (with a bit of blood squirting out the other side) and then shoots the owner several times in the chest. We later see that first murder again. We then see black and white surveillance camera footage of another murder where a masked man walks up and shoots a man at an ATM point-blank in the head. Terry has a nightmare where he's the victim of a shooting where a masked man shoots him several times in the chest (shown in a surrealistic fashion with the negative image of black and white footage). A suspect grabs Terry, throws him to a sofa and struggles with him. He then pulls out Terry's gun and throws it to the side. Terry then kicks him backwards, the man prepares to hit him with something, but Buddy runs in and grabs the man. That man then backhands Buddy to the floor, takes a chair and smashes a large office window, and then jumps out and runs away. We see that a man has been shot dead (there's blood from the bullet hole in his head). After seeing a suspicious parked car at a previous murder scene, Terry pulls out a shotgun and approaches the car. Its driver then spots him and tries to take off, but Terry opens fire on the car, hitting it several times. The car then finds its escape path blocked, and so rapidly backs up toward Terry who gets off a few more shots before jumping out of the way. That car and another smash into each other, and Jaye then fires at it with her handgun (but the driver gets away). After spotting some legs on the floor inside a house, Terry kicks open the door and he and Jaye enter with their guns drawn. They then find another bloody murder victim (with blood on the carpet as well and we hear that her throat was slit). We see someone walking along Terry's boat at night and he hears such footsteps and slowly goes to investigate. He ends up hitting one person on the head and then knocking him and another man off the boat and into the water. We see another new murder victim with a bloody bullet hole wound to his head (with a trickle of blood down from it). Terry grabs a person at a murder scene and briefly struggles with them, but the police there restrain him. He then pulls out his gun and fires a shot into a stack of newspapers at a nearby newsstand (so that his slug can be compared to another that was found earlier). Terry holds his gun on a suspect and then ends up shooting him in the arm. Terry fires a few shots into a body of water at an escaping suspect. The suspect fires a machine gun at Terry and others. Moments later, the suspect fires again and Terry shoots his handgun back. The suspect fires a machine gun at Terry but is thrown from one boat onto another when the first crashes into the second. Terry shoots a man as the latter raises his gun toward Terry. Graciella then holds the man's head underwater to make sure he drowns. Reviewed August 6, 2002 / Posted August 9, 2002

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