Tightrope (1984)

A New Orleans police detective (Clint Eastwood) is tracking down a serial killer who is murdering sex workers. But slowly the detective comes to realize there's an uncomfortable connection between him and the killer. Written and directed by Richard Tuggle, although reputedly Eastwood took over the direction of the movie quite early in the filming. The narrative which links the detective and the killer and suggests a correlation between the law enforcers and criminals is strong enough to carry the movie which is good since the dialog is simply awful. Eastwood, the actor, is quite good here and his relationship with Genevieve Bujold (who runs a rape crisis center) is well played out. There's a definite sexual attraction but no actual love scenes which is much more interesting. Still, the film isn't without the usual stupid cliches associated with thrillers. Example: a woman opens the door and sees the apartment trashed. Not only does she not turn around and call the police, she goes in and doesn't even turn on the lights! With Dan Hedaya and Alison Eastwood.