Tightrope Details

One of Clint Eastwood's greatest strengths is that he has been willing to explore the darker side of his film persona, and in this under-rated thriller he portrays a flawed and at times disturbing extension of his Dirty Harry character. Once again he is the maverick detective on the trail of a serial killer, only this time he is worried that both he and the man he is hunting share the same sexual tastes. Writer/director Richard Tuggle is either unwilling or unable to develop the theme fully, but he does make good use of the New Orleans settings and secures a powerful performance from Geneviève Bujold as a rape counsellor. One just wonders what Eastwood the director would have achieved with the same material.

This features as nasty a piece of wacko-scum-on-the-loose as Clint has ever faced. Unlike the last three Dirty Harry... read more on Time Out