"Tightrope" is a different kind of Clint Eastwood cop thriller. Here he plays New Orleans homicide detective Wes Block. Block is assigned to a series of rape murders happening in the French Quarter. The problem is that he soon becomes a suspect when hookers he's hired start turning up dead. This is easily the darkest of Eastwood's movies that examin what it means to be a man. Clint's other similerly themed movies are good, like "The Outlaw Jose Whales", "Heartbreak Ridge", "Unforgivin", and "In the Line of Fire". "Tightrope" is different, it shows Block's fear of women (because of a bad divorce) and how it manifests itself in Wes's preference to tie up the women he's with. In contrast with his kinky side is his attempted wholsome relationship with his daughter (Clint's real life daughter Allison Eastwood). The problem is after awhile the two sides of his life start to merge for the worse. Clint Eastwood takes a lot of critisism for not really being an actor; people say he's just kind of there. But I disagree, and "Tightrope" proves he is a good actor (though no one would compare him with Laurence Olivier). He takes his "Diry Harry" persona and humaizes it. One scene in particulor sticks out. It is while he is viewing the women at the strip bar; he has a look of utter disgust on his face; like he is not enjoying the show, but compeled to veiw women as objects, not people. And he hates himself for it. Genvieve Bujold is the women's advocate agent who helps Block with some of political aspects of the case. She is also the romantic interest. Bujold is emotionally strong enough to try to wade through the psychological damage in Block's attitudes. The killer is also very interesting. <!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!> The man was a cop who Block arrested for sex crimes some time ago. He is what Block is becoming. He will not stop at just restraining women; his hatered and fear of woman runs so deep that he must destroy them. Wes is so afraid that he will become like the killer that at one point when the killer is unmasked, Wes sees his own face. Richard Tuggle excellently wrote and directed this dark thriller. He did a great job with the material, what ever happened to him? And my compliments to the cinematographer who seems to have a real eye for locations. New Orleans's Bourbon Street is a major player in this movie. The place is seedy and full of slezzy sex for cash. It is dark, twisted, and full of wrong signals; much like the mind of the two central men. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen to deal with tortured heros. It has tight suspence. The people are wonderfully, complex characters. It is an excellent serial killer thriller and complex psycological drama.

Man, what can be said about a southern detective walking the thin line between deviance and virtue, honor and sluttiness, father and "Whose your Daddy?", well, Clint does it well.
Great story of Clint as a detective hot on the trail of a killer who may be hot on Clint's trail. Some great one-liners, plenty o' nakedness, action, and cute kids. This movie actually makes you feel dirty, but in a good way. I say rent it, buy it, put it under your pillow, drop it off on your co-workers desk and tell them that a good time awaits them. Hopefuly you won't get fired.

late.

To me, this film is even more impressive today than it was when I first saw it. Frankly, when seeing it 20 years ago, I was thrown off-balance by the character whom Eastwood plays, Wes Block, a police detective in New Orleans. He pursues a serial killer of prostitutes, a psychopath with whom he seems to share similar psycho-sexual preoccupations. Presumably this was a risky part for Eastwood to take on. Under skillful but deferential direction by Richard Tuggle, he explores with great skill certain depraved tendencies within himself which were much more shocking in 1984 than they seem to be, unfortunately, two decades later. Block's personal situation is complicated even more by the fact that he a single parent, raising two daughters. It is also important to remember that his personal conduct creates the risk of compromising his professional integrity as a law enforcement officer. For these and other reasons, Block is a much more enigmatic character than, for example, Harry ("what you see is what you get") Callahan.

In the role of Beryl Thibodeaux, Genevieve Bujold portrays a criminal psychologist who is attracted to Block as they work together even as she begins to sense and then contend with at least some of the demons which torment him. So much of this film occurs (both literally and symbolically) in darkness. Even a trained professional such as Thibodeaux is frustrated in her attempts to understand someone for whom she feels sincere affection. Special credit should be given to Bruce Surtees for superb cinematography which is coordinated seamlessly with the often depressing storyline. He had worked with Eastwood in previous films which include Dirty Harry (1971), Play Misty for Me (also 1971), Pale Rider (1975), and The Outlaw Josie Wales (1976). The supporting cast is excellent, notably Eastwood's daughter Alison who plays his older Amanda in the film, and Dan Hadeya as Detective Molinari. Eventually, after the serial killer kidnaps Amanda Block, her distraught and enraged father pursues her to a riveting conclusion when....

Others are much better qualified than I to express this opinion but I think Wes Block is a character which begins a new transition for Eastwood the actor. Thereafter, the characters he plays tend to be of the "sadder but wiser" variety, much less self-assured, more fatalistic in their view of the world, skeptical and sometimes cynical, reluctant to trust anyone or anything, and are -- for me, therefore -- much more interesting. This is an especially upsetting film which has lost little (if any) of its dramatic impact. Twenty years after its initial release and probably because I have become a grandfather, there are certain situations in Tightrope which are even more upsetting now than ever before.

Eastwood replaced Tuggle as director after, I believe, one day of torpid self-doubting direction. Tuggle maintained directorial credit, though this film is directed by Eastwood himself. And it shows.

After attending New Orleans' Jazz and Heritage Festival 2003, I had to watch this movie, and watch for some features not mentioned in the other excellent reviews already given this film.

First of all, there is the title song played by great New Orleans' jazz saxophonist James Rivers, whom Eastwood also chose to play on "Bridges of Madison County" (the secret roadside club scene) and on "Bird". Rivers is an accomplished musician on sax, flute, harmonica, and bagpipes (yes!) - check him out!

Then, there is the cemetery chase scene. This is the cemetery in which author Anne Rice played as a child, and features graves that feature in her books. A fake mausoleum was built to hide Eastwood in the chase scene.

I am putting in my order for the DVD!