“Blood Work” is a very good thriller brought to you by Clint Eastwood (“Bronco Billy”, “A Fistful Of Dollars”); all it needs is to lose some of the little extra scenes that don’t do it any real favours.

While chasing a suspect, F.B.I. agent Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) suffers from a heart attack and is forced into retirement. With his new heart he’s living life peacefully until a woman named Graciella Rivers comes telling that her sister was murdered and that here heart is inside McCaleb and she wants McCaleb to solve the crime. With the circumstances constantly changing McCaleb is closing in on the killer.

Clint Eastwood gives a great performance as McCaleb, it’s a pity though that they add in a few ridiculous shots of stunt doubles. Jeff Daniels (“Dumb And Dumber”, “Looper”) is surprisingly good as McCaleb’s neighbour Buddy. My favourite performance is by Angelica Huston (“The Addams Family”) as McCaleb’s doctor. My big problem is with the Graciella Rivers character; she drags the film out and tries to add almost spiritual elements to the picture, which I despise. Aside from that character I was pretty happy with the acting side of things in this movie.

“Blood Work” has plenty of exciting twists and turns but there is what I like to call a few layers of ‘fat’ spoiling it as it slightly detracts from the great crime solving. There are also one or two scenes that feel like they belong in a goofy action picture as opposed to a serious thriller, one of them has an obvious stunt double for Eastwood burst through a wooden fence. “Blood Work” should have had bits where McCaleb and Rivers bond removed to make it a more serious and just better working crime thriller. I heavily praise Eastwood’s work as a director but I question bits of the script and some editing decisions, that aside the film is still a great watch.