''Tightrope'' is a 1984

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries bet ...

mystery

slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film ...

crime thriller film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed and written by

Richard Tuggle Richard Tuggle is an American film director and writer best known as the writer of '' Escape from Alcatraz'', the writer and director of ''Tightrope'', and the director of ''Out of Bounds In sports, out of bounds (or out-of-bounds) refers t ...

and produced by and starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

Plot

A young woman (

Jamie Rose Jamie Rose (born November 26, 1959) is an American actress and acting instructor. Born in New York City, Rose was raised in Southern California, where she began her career as a child actor, first appearing in commercials. She made her feature fil ...

) walking home from her birthday party is stalked by a man in distinctive sneakers. After she drops one of her presents, a police officer offers to escort her to her front door. The camera reveals that the policeman is wearing the same sneakers as the stalker. The next day, divorced

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

police detective Wes Block (Eastwood) is playing football with his daughters Penny and Amanda. They take in a stray dog, adding to the several strays they have already taken in. As the family gets ready to go to a

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

game, Block is summoned to a crime scene, forcing him to break his plans with his daughters. The young woman has been strangled in her bed. Her killer left no fingerprints, but he waited in her apartment until midnight to kill her, even pausing to make himself coffee. Block visits a brothel where the woman worked, and interviews a prostitute with whom she would perform group sex. The prostitute seduces Block, loosening his necktie, which he accidentally leaves behind. The murderer rapes his victims, and he has been leaving behind a great deal of forensic evidence, including a residue of glass fragments and barley. Beryl Thibodeaux (

Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...

) runs a rape prevention program, and she advises Block on the case. The second victim is also a sex worker, and she is strangled in a jacuzzi. Block tracks down one of her co-workers and interviews her while the two prepare to have sex. He handcuffs the woman to the bed. While Block inquires about the victims at another brothel, he has sex with a prostitute. The hidden killer watches Block and the prostitute. The next morning, Block is called to the scene of a third victim. He is shocked to realize that it is the prostitute he had been with the night before. Under the guise of working on the case, Block flirts with Thibodeaux, and the two spend the rest of the day together. The killer taunts Block by sending a doll with a note, which directs him to another brothel. Once there, a dominatrix informs Block that an unknown man has hired her to be whipped by Block. She is then supposed to send Block to a gay bar. At the bar, Block meets up with a man who has been hired by the killer to have sex with Block. Block instructs the man to pick up his pay as scheduled and follows him, hoping to catch the killer. However, Block is too late, and the man is killed. The killer kidnaps the second victim's co-worker, and he dumps her body in a public fountain. He drapes Block's abandoned necktie on a nearby statue. Block and Thibodeaux go out on a second date, escorting his children, while secretly observed by the killer disguised as a Mardi Gras participant. When they are in bed later, Block shies away from intimacy with Thibodeaux, and then has a nightmare that he attacks her in the guise of the killer. One of the victim's clothes has some cash in it, which the police trace to the payroll of a brewery. The money has the same glass and barley residue on it that has been cropping up at all the crime scenes. When Block goes to the brewery to investigate, the killer watches him during his visit. That night, the killer breaks into Block's home, killing the nanny and some of Block's pets, and handcuffing and gagging Amanda. Block is nearly strangled in a struggle after he arrives and is only saved when one of his surviving dogs repeatedly bites the killer. Block fires two shots at the killer as he escapes. The killer is later seen watching from concealment as the police investigate the scene. While going through news clippings, Block comes across the name of a cop, Leander Rolfe (

Marco St. John Marco St. John (born Marco John Figueroa, Jr.; May 7, 1939) is an American actor who has appeared in films and television programs. He is known for his role as the horny truck driver in the 1991 film '' Thelma & Louise'' and for playing Sheriff ...

), whom he arrested for raping two girls. Further investigation reveals that Rolfe had been paroled and was working at the brewery. Block and his team stake out Rolfe's apartment, but Rolfe has gone to attack Thibodeaux at her home (successfully slaying the cops guarding her). Realizing that she is in danger, Block races to her home, where he disturbs Rolfe's attempt to strangle her (despite being stabbed twice with scissors). Block chases Rolfe through a cemetery and into a rail yard. During their final battle, they end up in the path of an oncoming train; Block manages to roll out of the way in time, but Rolfe is run over and killed. Block accepts Beryl's touch after he tells her everything will be okay.

Cast

as Det. Wes Block *

as Beryl Thibodeaux *

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

as Det. Joe Molinari * Alison Eastwood as Amanda Block *

Jenny Beck Jennifer Beck (born August 3, 1974) is an American actress best known for playing a young Elizabeth on '' V: The Final Battle'' and '' V: The Series'' (episode 1). The daughter of Jim and Lori Beck, she was born in Los Angeles, California, a ...

as Penny Block *

as Leander Rolfe * Rod Masterson as Patrolman Gallo *

as Melanie Silber *

Janet MacLachlan Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as ''The Rockford Files'', '' Alias'' and ''The Golden Girls''. She is best remembered for her key supporting part in ...

as Dr. Yarlofsky

Production

''Tightrope'' was filmed in New Orleans in the fall of 1983.Hughes, p.71 While Tuggle retained the director's credit, Eastwood allegedly directed much of the movie after finding Tuggle worked too slowly.

Reception

The film was released in United States theaters in August 1984. It eventually grossed $48 million at the United States box office.Hughes, p.72 In its opening weekend ''Tightrope'' was number 1, taking in $9,156,545, an average $5,965 per theater.

Critical response

''Tightrope'' received mostly positive reviews from critics. The film has an 85% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, out of 13 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

praised the film for taking chances by exploring the idea of a hard-nosed cop learning to respect a woman. He cites the film as "a lot more ambitious" than the ''Dirty Harry'' movies. Ebert's colleague

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the '' Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his ...

also praised the film during their on-air review of the film on At the Movies, crediting the performance of the villain, the relationship between Eastwood and Geneviève Bujold, and Eastwood doing "a terrific job risking his star charisma playing a louse" and also "taking us inside to see what it's really like to abuse women".

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

concluded that the film "isn't quite top-level Eastwood, but it's close."

David Denby David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014. Early life and education Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...

stated that as an actor he (Eastwood) "gave his most complex and forceful performance to date."

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, tightrope 1984 directorial debut films 1984 films 1980s psychological thriller films 1980s slasher films 1980s serial killer films 1980s mystery thriller films 1980s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American mystery thriller films American psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films American serial killer films BDSM in films Films directed by Clint Eastwood Films produced by Clint Eastwood Films set in New Orleans Films shot in New Orleans Films scored by Lennie Niehaus Malpaso Productions films American police detective films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films