SnoopyStyle A serial rapist killer is roaming the streets of New Orleans disguised as a cop. Police detective Wes Block (Clint Eastwood) investigates the murder of a young woman. Beryl Thibodeaux (Geneviève Bujold) runs the rape center. She tries to get involved in the case but Block rejects her. As more women are killed, she complains to the mayor. Wes' ex-wife is getting remarried and wants their daughters to live with her. He scours the underbelly of society to find the killer. Then he's contacted by someone claiming to be the killer.Clint Eastwood actually did most of the directing although he's not credited. It has his matter-of-fact style. Quite frankly, many of the serial killer scenes are closer to horror movies. It has a disconcerting feel which is very good. The investigation is a little confused and the eventual killer isn't that interesting. I don't think that's a big deal since it's not really a mystery movie. I would have prefer the guy to be a nobody.

axlrhodes I entered into this expecting to have a Dirty Harry style experience, but what's actually on offer is more like a neo-noir Sleazy Harry. It's a cop on the hunt of a serial killer thriller that plays out like a middling episode of 'The Equalizer', only about sixty minutes longer (yawn). Naturally, Clint or 'Wes Block' as he's called here, is our cop while the killer in question is a mask wearing Scooby Doo escapee who we never really see until the end reel. Now i don't have a problem with that, but some things make the criminal comical when i'm sure that wasn't the intention. Twice in the film we see the murderer mere yards away from Wes, at the crime scene seemingly taunting our hero, but really you just want to shout 'He's behind you!', in true panto spirit. Tonally, writer/director Richard Tuggle goes dark. It's a near humourless, straight up affair that depicts Wes on one hand a devoted father, and on the other an arrogant, sex obsessed womaniser. There's a few light-hearted and amusing moments between him and his two young daughters but none of much really stacks up to a great deal and inevitably it all falls flat with a series of predictable murders, plodding pacing and a laughable finale.

MartinHafer This is NOT the sort of film to show your kids, pastor or mother. The film has a decent amount of nudity and has lots of sexual content. And, unlike Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, this leading man is one kinky cop! As I said, it's pretty adult and a bit slimy. The film begins with a murder. The detective sent in to investigate is Eastwood--and at first he seems like a pretty normal sort of fella. However, you soon learn that he's a divorced man with two young girls. This isn't the unusual thing--what's unusual is while he continues investigating a string of prostitute murders, he begins sleeping with these professional girls as well. Pretty odd--but what's even more odd is that soon some of the girls that service him begin showing up dead! While it's never implied that he's committed the murders, it's obvious that there is SOME sort of connection between him and the killer. What it is and why is something you'll have to find out for yourself.As I said above, this is an awfully adult sort of film. While it has some nice tension and suspense, you almost feel like taking a bath when it's all over, as the film is very grim and nasty. If you like grim and nasty, by all means give it a try. I have a couple final observations. While the film is set in New Orleans, I didn't notice a single character with a New Orleans accent!! In addition, it was nice to see that Genevieve Bujold's character is NOT some simpering woman but fights hard and dirty when the killer attacks her. nice seeing a heroine who fights back

seymourblack-1 "Tightrope" is a story about the classic split between good and bad that exists in all of us, the struggle to keep the "dark side" at bay and the challenges that have to be faced when exposure to certain stimuli make the "dark side" more difficult to control. In the case of New Orleans detective Wes Block (Clint Eastwood), his experience of having been deserted by his wife, left him feeling threatened by women and needing to regain some control. The way that he did this was perverse, as he developed a taste for visiting prostitutes in the French Quarter who were content to be handcuffed.To quote one of the characters in "Tightrope", "there's a darkness in all of us"......."some have it under control, others act it out. The rest of us try to walk on a tightrope between the two". The level of success that can be achieved in walking the tightrope is determined by a number of factors and in Block's case, it's made clear that his many years of dealing with sex crimes had affected him in some way that had contributed to his aberrant behaviour.Detective Block is assigned to investigate the murder of a young woman who'd been raped and strangled and soon after, another victim is found in a hot tub. Both women were prostitutes and both had been killed in the same way. In the course of his investigations, Block visits the victims' co-workers and after questioning them, has sex with them.Block is a troubled character who struggles with profound feelings of guilt and becomes even more uncomfortable when the next victim is a prostitute he'd been with on the night before her death. The killer then goes on to taunt Block in a way which makes it clear that he's aware of the detective's sexual predilections. Block then becomes tormented by similarities that he recognises between himself and the killer and even suffers nightmares as a consequence.Block is divorced but enjoys a happy family life with his two young daughters. During the course of his investigation, he meets Beryl Thibodeaux (Genevieve Bujold), a rape counsellor and self-defence instructor who wants to be involved in the investigation. Gradually their friendship develops and they get to know each other better.The serial killer leaves some evidence behind at a crime scene which indicates that he probably works in a brewery but when this lead is pursued, Beryl and Block's daughters' lives are put in jeopardy before the culprit's reign of terror is finally brought to an end.Block's inherent duality and the journey that he travels as he (through his relationship with Beryl), overcomes his need to use handcuffs, makes him an interesting character and Clint Eastwood's remarkably subtle performance is both impressive and vital to the success of the movie. Genevieve Bujold and Dan Hedaya are also good in their supporting roles."Tightrope" is an intriguing film which is often suspenseful. Lennie Niehaus' score is wonderfully evocative of New Orleans and Bruce Surtees' shadowy cinematography is tremendous as it does so much to enhance the mood of impending danger and psychological darkness that prevails throughout the whole movie.