Tightrope

Rating:
Summary: Be prepared for some X-rated Clint!!!
Review: "Tightrope" contains some of the most graphic material ever seen in a Clint Eastwood film (eg: bondage scenes, homosexuality, sadomasochism). Definitely not for viewers under 16, even though I've had the movie since I was 11!!! Don't let the graphic material turn you off though because this film contains one of Clint's few great performances. His character's vulnerability has only been matched in two other movies that I know of (eg: In The Line of Fire, The Outlaw Josey Wales) and he should have at least been nominated for an Academy Award. Clint Eastwood plays Wes Block, a New Orleans detective who has been assigned to catch a serial sex killer. While on the trail, he finds himself sinking into the world of prostitution and other weird sexual fetishes. When the killer strikes too close to home (literally), Block forces himself out of his hole and the final battle between the cop and the killer has some very shocking and extremely violent scenes. "Tightrope" is indeed one of Clint's finer movies, even better than most in his "Dirty Harry" series. Warning: This film is strictly for adults.

Rating:
Summary: The much darker side of Eastwood
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: Be prepared for some X-rated Clint!!!
Review: "Tightrope" contains some of the most graphic material ever seen in a Clint Eastwood film (eg: bondage scenes, homosexuality, sadomasochism). Definitely not for viewers under 16, even though I've had the movie since I was 11!!! Don't let the graphic material turn you off though because this film contains one of Clint's few great performances. His character's vulnerability has only been matched in two other movies that I know of (eg: In The Line of Fire, The Outlaw Josey Wales) and he should have at least been nominated for an Academy Award. Clint Eastwood plays Wes Block, a New Orleans detective who has been assigned to catch a serial sex killer. While on the trail, he finds himself sinking into the world of prostitution and other weird sexual fetishes. When the killer strikes too close to home (literally), Block forces himself out of his hole and the final battle between the cop and the killer has some very shocking and extremely violent scenes. "Tightrope" is indeed one of Clint's finer movies, even better than most in his "Dirty Harry" series. Warning: This film is strictly for adults.

Rating:
Summary: Eastwood as ghost director
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Added New Orleans Links
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Eastwood in New Orleans
Review: Clint Eastwood portrays New Orleans cop Wes Block, a single parent with two daughters (including real life daughter Alison) who also has a dark side - he likes to patronize prostitutes in the local red light district. His after dark habits start to hit close to home when each successive prostitute he has been with turns up dead, strangled with a pretty red ribbon. A rape crisis counselor (Genevieve Bujold) wants to get involved in the investigation, and Block's resistance to the idea wanes when he realizes he has feelings for her. Unusual, dark, and intriguing - possibly Eastwood's only police role where we get so much into his psyche. Most enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Eastwood as ghost director
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Southern-fried Clint's still Dirty Harry at heart
Review: I often wonder why the producers didn't just turn Tightrope into an installment of the Dirty Harry series? Drop the totally unnecessary roles of Clint's real-life daughters from Tightrope and leave the geographic blandness of The Big Easy for the Bay, and it would have made one of the best Dirty Harry entries. Heck, the title alone would have put it on par with the original Dirty Harry! Instead, we get Southern-fried Clint on the trail of a serial killer. The redeeming twist on this police potboiler is the killer seems to have the same sortid sexual tastes as Clint, making for an interesting (although predictable)plunge into the mind of a killer. Tightrope doesn't waste time and money on too many extra characters, which is refreshing. Geineve Bujold is a serviceable foil to Clint's macho. And Dan Hedaya conjures more Dirty Harry deja vu as Clint's partner. But mostly it's Clint trying to sort out the mutual demons that threaten to tear him and New Orleans apart. If only it were San Francisco!

Rating:
Summary: A deeply psychological film!
Review: It seems ironic that the film performance that ranks as one ofEastwood's best and most substantial to date also examines very deeplyhis most popular yet most one-dimensional character of Harry Callahan. Actually the differences between Wes in this film and dirty Harry are abounding, in both general and specific terms. For instance, instead of firing rounds of bullets needlessly and dangerously three minutes into a movie and grunting inane dialogue like "Make my day", the Eastwood of TIGHTROPE doesn't shoot any bullets except two, one hour and 10 minutes into the movie; and then on a deserted street. He has two daughters from a divorce and has moments of sensitivity and warm humor. Generally the big difference is that Wes is a more personable and likeable guy that asks, not tells what he wants. Callahan on the other hand pushes people around in a very unrealistic way to obtain a means to an end. But while these differences exist there are similarities. Both characters feed off situations where outward masculinity seem to be more important than inward feeling. The movie examines this in the similarities between Wes and the killer. You get the feeling at one time, with Eastwood's performance that he is the killer himself. But masculinity means many different things to many different people. To some (this reviewer included), because that image is only outward, it is gratifying to know that Wes is a real person on the inside, one of several differences between Harry Callahan or the killer in this movie. And that is where the REAL similarity evolves. Not between Wes and the killer, but between Harry Callahan and the killer. Think about it for a second. Both characters resort to violence to get their way. Both characters have souls with the shallowness of a desert mirage. And both characters believe talking is a "weak" means of communication.And that superficial waste material seems to rub off on audiences too. TIGHTROPE seems to be looking at them, too, with a careful and critical eye. It seems to be saying: don't emulate dirty Harry Callahan too much or you will start using red ribbons to strangle women. Cinematically, the film doesn't waste a second. Like the dirty Harry films it crams as much into a single frame of celluoid as it can. The pacing is brutally fast. But, the beauty of THIS film is part of what it crams into those frames: inward character information. Which brings us back to Eastwood's performance. So humanly realistic and natural is Clint's work that you temporarily forget you are watching one of the film industries all time biggest box-office draws. You, in fact, loose yourself in the character and his dilemma. Equally good is Geneveive Bujold as the rape case controller who works with and later falls in love with Clint. There is true chemistry between the two of them. They are backed with an excellent supporting cast, an atmospheric music score and, as I said before, a caring and substantial script and directorial job by Richard Tuggle. Co-producer Eastwood and other stars should examine their screen persona more often if the result would be this fulfilling. If you are of age, see this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Kinky,Kinky, Kinky Clint...
Review: 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.