as Det. Wes Block Geneviève Bujold as Beryl Thibodeaux Dan Hedaya as Det. Joe Molinari Alison Eastwood as Amanda Block Jenny Beck as Penny Block Marco St. John as Leander Rolfe Rod Masterson as Patrolman Gallo Jamie Rose as Melanie Silber Janet MacLachlan as Dr. Yarlofsky Production Tightrope was filmed in New Orleans in the fall of 1983. While Tuggle retained the director's credit, Eastwood allegedly directed much of the movie after finding Tuggle worked too slowly. Reception The film was released in United States theaters in August 1984. It eventually grossed $48 million at the United States box office. In its opening weekend Tightrope was number 1, taking in $9,156,545, an average $5,965 per theater. Critical response Tightrope received mostly positive reviews from critics. The film has an 85% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, out of 13 reviews. Roger Ebert praised the film for taking chances by exploring the idea of a hard-nosed cop learning to respect a woman. He cites the film as "a lot more ambitious" than the Dirty Harry movies. Ebert's colleague Gene Siskel also praised the film during their on-air review of the film on At the Movies, crediting the performance of the villain, the relationship between Eastwood and Geneviève Bujold, and Eastwood doing "a terrific job risking his star charisma playing a louse" and also "taking us inside to see what it's really like to abuse women". Janet Maslin concluded that the film "isn't quite top-level Eastwood, but it's close." David Denby stated that as an actor he (Eastwood) "gave his most complex and forceful performance to date." References Bibliography External links 1984 directorial debut films 1984 films 1980s psychological thriller films 1980s slasher films 1980s serial killer films 1980s mystery thriller films 1980s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American mystery thriller films American psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films American serial killer films BDSM in films Films produced by Clint Eastwood Films set in New Orleans Films shot in New Orleans Films scored by Lennie Niehaus Malpaso Productions films American police detective films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films