'80s Class?: Tightrope (1984)

 What better way to do begin Black History Month than with...a Clint Eastwood Film?  Well, it is set in New Orleans.

The Film is 1984's Tightrope, a Film that is both Directed by and NOT Directed by Clint Eastwood.  It's the Schrodinger's Cat of Clint Eastwood Films.  Officially, it was not Directed by him.  Unofficially, he apparently did most of the work, since the Director 'worked too slow.'

If I'm being honest, that translates to me as 'He doesn't Direct like I do,' so I'll just take over.  Am I wrong?  Maybe.  This is the same guy who once lectured an empty chair that supposedly held the President of the United States too- did we all forget that moment?

The Plot involves Eastwood's Detective trying to catch a Rapist and Murderer in New Orleans, while also dealing with his own issues.  As the killer targets those around him, can he 'walk the tightrope' to maintain his sanity and stop him?

If you wanted to see what Wikipedia describes as an *deep breath* 'American neo-noir psychological mystery slasher crime thriller film,' read on...

The Film plays a bit with conventions as we see a woman at night gets stalked by a strange man...but then saved by a Cop.

We see that said 'Cop' is wearing the same shoes as the stalker and... she's just dead the next day.

I feel like we skipped a Scene or two....

We see that Eastwood's Cop is a Divorcee with 2 Daughters- one of whom is played by his *actual* Daughter Alison.  Is it just me or is hiring your kid to play ONE of your daughters somehow weirder than not hiring her at all?

As for the Ex-Wife, we see her twice, but she has no lines.  At all.

The body is discovered, and he begins to work the case.  

There was apparently another murder before the Film started, so now the question is are the 2 related?

The Film really leans heavily on early use of CSI work, from hair samples to bite marks, so that's kind of neat.

The problem is that Eastwood's Cop is still going through alot after the divorce and keeps ending up sleeping with the women he talks to about the case.

So, in summary so far, every female character- minus his kids- is either a Sex Worker or his ex-Wife.

The streak is broken when he meets up with a woman who teaches Self-Defense for Women (Genevieve Bujold) and pushes him to be more open about the case.

After the second murder we see, he finally comes public and warns people.

Mind you, he's still doing the whole 'talk to them, sleep with them and then they get killed' routine during this time.

He eventually realizes that there is a connection between the people killed by the villain and the women he meets/sleeps with, be they a Prostitute, Masseuse or Mud Wrestler.

He begins to question himself too, even having a dream of himself as the killer.  Curiously, he is wearing the same mask that the killer later wears, so...

Option 1- it's a massive coincidence.

Option 2- the killer saw his dream and started wearing that mask.

Option 3- he just happened to guess the killer's mask.

I'm going with 2, no matter how silly or wrong it might be.

There's an odd part where he follows the killer's instructions, meets a man at a Gay Bar and then tries to find the killer...only to find that man now dead.

Joy.

He keeps working the case and figures out where the killer must work.

Of course, Movie Serial Killers are super geniuses who have the ability to read ahead in the Script (prove me wrong!) so it's not that easy.

Can he stop this killer- who is, of course, a Master of Disguise?

What happens when the killer strikes at his house?

I mean...could you imagine if he didn't stop him?
He does, obviously.  The End.

A good Film, even if some of it isn't exactly kosher these days.  Welcome to '80s Films- I know.

To get the complaints out of the way, it's unfortunate that no women get to really look that good here.  Even the Self Defense Instructor can't stop the guy, needing to be saved.  She does do more than others- stabbing the guy twice- but ultimately still can't do a damn thing to save herself.

Shocking to see this kind of thing in a Clint Eastwood Film, huh?

Aside from that and the iffy representation of Gay Men (as brief as it is), the Film is quite good.  Eastwood gets to play a far more nuanced Character than Dirty Harry ever was.  Granted- his nuance involves him sleeping with almost every woman in the Film (supposedly Bujold asked them to excise their Scene from the Film).

I will say that it is odd that his connection to all of the victims never takes a turn that makes him a suspect.  He gets to question himself, but nobody else does.  If this was done today with, say, Sam Worthington, we'd get at least a Scene or 2 where he has to prove that he shouldn't be the suspect.  

So, while Eastwood shows depth and complexity here, the Script doesn't quite do the same in the end.

That said, Tightrope is a good Film with all of its minor faults and dated attitudes taken into account.  It's a nice attempt at making Eastwood more than just a 'tough as nails Cop' for once.  That said, this guy is still my favorite Character.

Next time, another Thriller with a more Horror focus.  Let's see if Denzel can do as good a job catching his Serial Killer.  Stay tuned...