TIGHTROPE

title: TIGHTROPE

year: 1984

cast: Clint Eastwood

rating: *1/2

Bland crime melodrama with ragged cop Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry without a pulse) investigating the deaths of random hookers by an unseen, unknown antagonist. There's very little action, and the suspense, teasing the possiblity of Clint being the killer (since he too has a penchant for prostitutes) is completely lackluster. But the main problem is the direction. Each shot, aggagerated for dramatic effect, seems like a student film... And the climactic fight on railroad tracks, involving a severed arm, might be the funniest unintentional moment in action film history.