MOVIE REVIEW

By Kenneth Turan, Times Staff Writer

Clint Eastwood is the Last 72-Year-Old Action Hero. His neck has more wrinkles than a Shar-Pei--even the creases on his face have creases--but he remains one tough hombre, a man with a nine-mile stare and the wherewithal to back it up.

Eastwood has also been shrewd about how he uses his age, managing to find older roles of interest and variety. Though Terry McCaleb is a mere 46 in the Michael Connelly novel that the film "Blood Work" is based on, Eastwood saw something in the character that could be made to work for him.

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After a brief prologue that helps establish the plot, we reconnect with McCaleb, a retired FBI agent, 60 days after he's had a successful heart transplant. Under the supervision of cardiologist Dr. Bonnie Fox (Anjelica Huston), he's swallowing 34 pills a day and monitoring his temperature on his boat in San Pedro. The most arduous part of his day is trading languid hellos with his slacker neighbor Buddy Noone (Jeff Daniels).

Onto that boat comes Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus), attracted to McCaleb's reputation for being a master at investigating crime scenes, someone who was so good at what he did that perpetrators would sometimes leave taunting personal messages next to the evidence.

Graciella's sister, Gloria, was recently murdered, apparently a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time victim of a convenience store robbery. The police have gotten nowhere, and Graciella wants McCaleb to investigate. His health, the still-real threat of his body rejecting his new heart, makes him say no. But the sister knows something that makes McCaleb change his mind and agree to gamble with his life.

Clearly, a character with a well-defined sense of imminent mortality is something Eastwood can play handily at this stage of his career. When McCaleb has trouble catching his breath, we truly fear for him, and when people tell him he looks like he needs a nap, we want to yell out a supportive "you betcha!"

As he ages as an actor, Eastwood, like Paul Newman, uses an economy of means to remain as compelling as he ever was. He thoroughly knows his core persona, and he has honed his trademark look of disgust until it's one of the most vivid ever put on screen.

But, as "Blood Work" demonstrates as well, Eastwood's directing has also been affected by his age. You don't know whether to admire the film's stately nature and call it classicism or be exasperated by a noticeable lack of pace. Or both.

Connelly's excellent novel, crisply written and smartly plotted, is certainly fine thriller material. As adapted by Brian Helgeland, the film has inevitably compressed (sometimes to the point of squashing) the original, making at least one key change that is sure to annoy regular Connelly readers.

As we follow McCaleb through his there's-more-here-than-meets-the-eye investigation, hissing cops like Ronaldo Arrango (Paul Rodriguez) who impede him and cheering those like Jaye Winston (Tina Lifford) who help, the essential squareness of this adventure becomes increasingly apparent.

On the one hand, there's a certain pleasure in seeing a thriller that's almost a relic of a bygone era. There's nothing flashy about "Blood Work," no in-your-face nihilism, no hot young actors you'd know from the WB network if you ever watched it.

On the other hand, the way Eastwood has directed the actors he has chosen makes this film's lack of energy hard to miss. The flip side of classicism is lethargy, and "Blood Work" can be so complacently paced you may want to give it a shot of Red Bull.

Eastwood gives the film that shot whenever he can, but it's not often enough.

Still, to quote actor Daniels, "when you're standing there watching Clint Eastwood stride down the middle of a California boulevard with a sawed-off shotgun, blowing away a Ford," that still means something. * * * MPAA rating: R, for violence and language. Times guidelines: standard Eastwood-level violence.

'Blood Work'

Clint Eastwood: Terry McCaleb

Jeff Daniels: Buddy Noone

Anjelica Huston: Dr. Bonnie Fox

Wanda De Jesus: Graciella Rivers

Tina Lifford: Jaye Winston

Paul Rodriguez: Det. Ronaldo Arrango

Dylan Walsh: Det. John Waller

A Malpaso production, released by Warner Bros. Director Clint Eastwood. Producer Clint Eastwood. Executive producer Robert Lorenz. Screenplay Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by Michael Connelly. Cinematographer Tom Stern. Editor Joel Cox. Costumes Deborah Hopper. Music Lennie Niehaus. Production design Henry Bumstead. Art director Jack G. Taylor Jr. Set decorator Richard Goddard. Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes.

In general release.