Review of Clay Pigeons (1998) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is a fairly decent movie, though it does have quite a 'budget' feel to it. Joaquin portrays Clay well, showing the frustration and desperation of his character, well.

There is a comedic side to the movie, with the always cheerful and also pretty over the top Lester as your local 'yee haw rootin' tootin'' cowboy and the rather dorky deputy Barney (no, not the purple dinosaur, though he doesn't seem particularly more intelligent than said creature!) (played by Vince Vieluf). Also some of the background music is a bit amusing at times, like the duelling banjos played while Clay and Lester are out fishing and Clay makes a rather disturbing discovery, through really it is more of a drama than a comedy.

It is perhaps a bit slow paced at times, which means some may find it a bit boring. Some scenes appear as if their daydreams or otherwise in Clays mind, I wouldn't like to give away entirely what happens in the movie but afterwards it made me wonder if the somewhat more daydream-ish scenes, or at least what appeared to me to be a bit like that, might be pointing towards something, its a bit difficult to tell and maybe im looking too far into things but it was interesting anyway. Vince does pretty well as Lester, portraying the 'laughing cowboy' type figure, which seems to suit him pretty well.

The story is a little confusing but interesting enough to keep you watching. The ending left me a bit unsure, it wasn't too clear... I think its up to you to decide quite what happened and where the characters go, from there.

This is a decent enough movie with a budget feel to it, the performances are quite good and its interesting enough, storywise, to keep you watching. There are some bits that are kind of amusing, though it is also quite seedy, with a few sex scenes present.

Its interesting to see Vince play a slightly different character, or otherwise to appear in a more dramatic movie. He looks quite good in this, so im sure its a hit with fans of his, if your one and haven't seen it already then I'd recommend it.

Its worth seeing, if it sounds like something that interests you. I wouldn't say that this is a particularly outstanding movie in any way but its good enough for a night in.