Miscellaneous Musings - Reynolds is God/Kinky Eastwood/Kilmer's Genius/Redford retires
Dark in theme and lighting, “Tightrope”, supposedly co-directed by Eastwood because Richard Tuggle was taking too long behind the camera, slowing down production (he was always a stickler for economic shoots and wasting little time), is often damn near exclusive to night in New Orleans, especially the seedy, overtly sexual Quarter visits to the kinkier aspects of city night life as Detective Wes Block (Eastwood) investigates a serial killer (Marco St. John), stalking, raping, and killing “ladies of the night”. The film explores Block’s proclivities towards kink, too, as he likes to frequent clubs and joints in Nawlins that feature women who slap you and are willing to take a whip, offer acts of different types (blowjobs, “massaging devices”, handcuffs, bondage, body oil, etc.), and operate in booths and rooms. The killer actually follows him, even taking a necktie, leaving it on a statue along with the body of a sultry blond Block “lathered” and handcuffed (she likes popsicles, too), so that the detective knows his kinks and sexual side isn’t hidden. That’s the thing about “Tightrope”, the film isn’t shy about the night life and its many tantalizing, salacious offerings to those with certain desires that could be attended to for a price. Eastwood willing to star in a film as this, revealing a character grappling with a side of him that eventually puts him in quite a pickle (the tightrope isn’t just about strangling women, but Block walks it with his extracurricular activities and how they could jeopardize him if he isn’t careful), with several visits to sex hot spots in New Orleans, the location shooting and score emphasizing jazz heavily are incredibly atmospheric, and I think you really feel 1983 (shot in the city in the fall of said year) French Quarter and Bourbon Street as you might New York City during its grittiest and naughty “heyday” (for some, a low period of urban decay). I realize that many will consider “Tightrope” unsettling and rather unpleasant, perhaps wallowing in “sexual aberrant lifestyle”, but the provocative material, I felt, adds dimension and layer to Block, showing not just his wonderful relationships with his daughters and maintained hurt felt by his wife leaving them but also the undercurrent of yearning and craving that washes over him when he visits places where women offer him services he can’t seem to turn away. Not for all tastes. I think the film goes the predictable, routine route with the killer being linked to Eastwood from the past (once a cop, working at a brewery, he is uncovered as a former convict, arrested by Block, released from prison and looking for revenge), targeting his older daughter (played impressively and maturely by Eastwood’s actual daughter, Alison) and a “rape counselor” (played by the always excellent Bujold) the detective befriends (and falls in love) during the serial killing investigations. I generally enjoy cinematographer Surtees’ work but the film can be a bit too murky, although there are some real eyepopping moments here and there (like the red lighting in a club where Block meets up with a blond he questions then fucks, such an example). Overall, though, I think “Tightrope” is one of his more underrated films.
Real Genius (1985) ***
Although not a big hit in theaters in the 80s, “Real Genius”
(1985) is yet another example of how cable and premium channels (and just
channels looking for content) in the late 80s and early 90s (and still as of
today) can make a film that might be considered ready for obscurity, to be
buried R.I.P, into a hit with folks growing up with it. I’m 42 and I can tell
you this was on all the time when I was a youth. And I noticed it was on Sony
Movie Channel, and because it was uncut (I noticed it on Sundance Channel, but
it would be cut with commercials) I thought a Friday afternoon bit of fun was
ideal. And “Real Genius” always brings a smile to my face and leaves me feeling
better having watched it. It is one of those key films in my life that I can
just think about that provides a heart happy grin. Yes, William Atherton, as
revered Professor Jerry Hathaway of Pacific Tech, is yet again cast as an
asshole whose face you just want to punch, in “Real Genius” looking to pressure
college geniuses, Kilmer (and the eccentric, electric Chris Knight) and Jarret
(as 15 year old teen prodigy looking for friends wherever he can find them as
Mitch Taylor) into developing a megawatt laser. Neither Kilmer or Jarret
realize until the college’s “underground genius who snapped under pressure and
disappears into their closet” (Jon Gries, looking very much like a doe-eyed,
sensitive, careful-approaching recluse with long hair, often in jackets, in a
beard, with snacks) asks them what a successful laser, that fires quickly with
a tracking system (developed by Atherton’s patsy, Robert Prescott’s
braces-mouthed suck-up, Kent) to pinpoint accurately a target, is actually used
for that they realize it was to be a weapon from space for the government (preferably
the CIA and military, led by the demanding Ed Lauter and his project’s manager,
Louis Giambalvo) on assets prepared for assassination. What Kilmer and Jarret
(and fellow geniuses, Meyrink and Kamiyama) set in motion involves a two story
house with elegant furnishings imploding with popcorn, leaving Atherton to
realize what his deception has now cost him. I forgot that a young Deborah
Foreman was the daughter of Lauter, a lover of Atherton’s who has an awkwardly
sexual exchange with the forward Kilmer (visiting Atherton to discuss the laser
breakthrough) in this film! This is for the most part a “nerd college comedy”
where the pressures of studying and accomplishing an incredibly difficult,
complex laser project puts a lot of emotional stress and weight on the likes of
Jarret and (eventually) Kilmer, with Prescott (jealous that attention has been
moved away from him to Jarret and Kilmer) not helping matters. Atherton
threatening to fail Kilmer (in a fair situation, this would not happen), using underhanded
tactics to speed up the process of the laser project in order to get it to
Lauter, and how he treats the laborers working on his house and estate offers
yet another character we root to see get his comeuppance…he is just a heel you
love to despise. Good co-lead for Jarret as the impressionable teenager smitten
with speedy-voiced, hyperactive-minded Meyrink and taken under the wing of
trouble-making but well-meaning prankster Kilmer. Kilmer clearly is the star in
the film but Jarret as the hard-working wunderkind ably works alongside him
quite well. You could see Kilmer was going places while Jarret was groomed for
stardom that never quite materialized. The film has ice that vaporizes into gas
even as students slide down the hall, Kilmer slicing off ice as “coins” for
coffee and snacks (!), an impressive laser show inviting students to a beach
party complete with ladies from a nearby “beauty university”, a car in Kent’s
room, a mini-speaker implanted in Kent’s teeth so “God” can give him orders,
the innovative “ride” to Gries’ Lazlo’s “bunker” where he organizes a
mathematical scheme to “fulfill his materialistic needs”, and the entire final
retaliation by the geniuses on Atherton (which included Jarret and Kilmer
undercover in disguise as scientists so they could get to the laser and set up
their radar trick and machine sabotage) are specific highlights I think
accumulate to make “Real Genius” quite a clever hoot. The energy of the cast and
direction really always sticks out to me…it’s got charm and appeal to spare. My
best way to describe this is it is like an old friend that stops by from time
to time, a channel surf pleasure that I don’t even need to start…I used to come
across it at different points and still just continue watching it. Good 80s
soundtrack of familiar songs, too. Part of that second tier of comedies that
gained a cult following due to exposure outside of the theater.
The Old Man and the Gun (2018) ***
“The Old Man and the Gun” (2018) was presented as Robert Redford’s final film, coinciding with a certain nice payday for his Captain America/Avengers work, starring as a cagey bank robber and master prison escapist who falls for a widow (Sissy Spacek), with horses and a farm with a mortgage hindering her. Redford’s Forrest Tucker is so evasive and clever he actually robs a bank (along with fellow thieves played by Danny Glover and Tom Waits) with a detective (Casey Affleck) inside! The thing about Tucker is that he lives for the thrill of escaping banks with money, not necessarily for the prize as much as the exhilaration of possibly getting caught. At the very end, when he actually stays in prison until release and rejoins Spacek’s Jewel, the yearning to return to what he does best is a compulsion he just can’t resist (“Robbing four banks that day with a smile”). I think this film, set in the fall of 1981 mostly, is all about celebrating Redford, the charismatic Hollywood icon, and his chemistry with Spacek is impeccable. He’s a charmer as those in the bank he “sticks up” refer to him as gentlemanly, happy, and pleasant. There’s a neat “highlight reel” of all sixteen of Tucker’s prison escapes, red by Jewel when visiting him at jail. I think my favorite scenes were of Redford and Spacek at diners and cafes, just shooting the shit, together, amusing each other…Tucker telling Jewel what he is, her dismissing it as outlandish, and him brushing it off as a joke was a particularly favorite moment to me. Another has Tucker trying to convince Jewel to walk out of a jewelry store with a bracelet, as Jewel just can’t do that while Tucker is perfectly comfortable encouraging her to go all the way in the mall. Oh, and in a diner on a night out with his wife, Affleck’s John Hunt goes into a restroom and Tucker (having seen Hunt on television interviewed about his pursuit of Tucker and his “Over the Hill Gang”) talks to him, a brazen move that could get him caught. The conflict involving Hunt never was as involving to me as Tucker’s journey through the end of 81 as he alternates between heists with his guys and wooing Jewel. Hunt interviews Tucker’s disregarded daughter (Moss) which gives us insight on how robbing banks and breaking from jails led him in life more than being a responsible husband and father. I think Redford really gets that across—the exhilaration and lure of the heist always pulling at him—and his interest in Spacek (and her interest and amusement in him), perhaps a redeeming romance and relationship, sort of serving as a tug-o-war. Hunt in a bank as a heist is occurring with him oblivious serves as a running joke with his peers in the police department and does push him to “try harder” (as his wife encourages him to motivation as well). Still, Hunt sort of admires him and is removed from pursuing him by the FBI. Hunt is more of a subplot that interrupts the main story of Tucker, his criminal life, and Jewel’s emergence in Tucker’s life that sort of offers conflict. Police chases, Redford on a horse, a mother and son in a car Tucker commandeers, and Waits’Waller talking about why he hates Christmas (the evil authoritarian stepdad in “whitey-tighties”) are highlights. Redford on the horse as a convoy of police cars, sirens going loud, are at a distance is an iconic shot. This is a quaint, easy-breezy 90 minute film that does Redford’s career justice. It isn’t extraordinary or as much a work of art as it provided Redford a nice star vehicle bookending an incredible run. If you are looking for another film in the twilight of Redford’s career that I think is even better, I highly recommend “All is Lost” (2013).
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