Grade: B+

Verdict: Works.

Details: Starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels and Wanda De Jesus. Directed by Eastwood. Rated R for violence, language and sexuality. One hour, 51 minutes.

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Review: Clint Eastwood has been kicking in doors for more than 40 years. And no wonder. Aside from an iffy spell in the late 1970s and early '80s (the orangutan period), he knows how to choose good material that's a first-rate fit for him as actor and director.

In his new suspense thriller, "Blood Work," written by Oscar winner Brian Helgeland (for "L.A. Confidential"), Eastwood plays Terry McCaleb, a top-drawer FBI profiler sidelined by a heart attack he suffers chasing a serial killer. Not just any serial killer — one who likes to leave him personal messages written with the victims' blood.

Two years later, Terry is a heart transplant recipient, living out his retirement on his boat at the Long Beach marina. Mostly, he works on the boat, swallows his zillion pills and checks in with his no-nonsense doctor (Anjelica Huston).cq Then, an attractive woman he doesn't know shows up at the marina. Her name is Graciella Riverscq (Wanda De Jesus), and his new heart belonged to her sister, Gloria, who didn't die in an accident, as Terry assumed, but was murdered. Since her death gave him life, Graciella wants — expects — him to use his expert profiling skills to find her killer.

It's a pretty compelling argument.

So Terry's back in the game, razzed by his former captain (Paul Rodriguez), who's afraid he'll show him up, and helped on the sly by a former FBI colleague (Tina Liffordcq), who got her lucky break as a rookie, thanks to Terry (with whom she also may have been romantically involved).

"Blood Work" is the sort of solid stuff we've come to expect from Eastwood ever since his 1992 Oscar winner, "Unforgiven." Yes, there are some plot problems. Clues turn up a little too felicitously, and the minute you see Gloria's orphaned little boy, you almost have to figure this adorable kid is going to end up in a dangerous situation (that's why they have adorable kids in thrillers).

Even so, the movie has plenty of twists and surprises. It's also loaded with good acting. Huston, Rodriguez and Lifford are all fine, but the standout is Jeff Daniels as Buddy, the amiable deadbeat who lives on the boat next door. Recruited as Terry's driver, he's intensely (and vocally) disappointed that he's considered a chauffeur and not Terry's partner. "Starsky and Putz," he mutters after being barred from another crime scene.

The film still comes down to Eastwood, as always. He's clearly having a blast playing around with the particulars of a macho man who's also eligible for AARP. Unlike Al Pacino's cop in "Insomnia," Eastwood huffs and puffs when he chases a perp. Hell, he's had a heart attack, remember.

Eastwood also laces his character with small physical details. In the opening sequence, he's so made up, it looks like he's had a facelift. Initially you think, ah, even the Mighty Clint is vulnerable to actor's vanity. But when we catch up with him after the transplant, his face is lined and craggy. He looks like himself — the Clint from "Space Cowboys" and "Absolute Power" — and you realize the masklike "healthy" effect was intentional.

By now, Eastwood has become an icon, an unquestioned brand-name assurance of quality. In this movie, he's Classic Clint, as satisfying and reliable as Classic Coke.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution