Review of Clue (1985) by John A — 04 Mar 2013

If ever there was a film that has risen from the ashes of obscurity to be one of the quintessential cult films, That film has to be Clue. Frankly the real mystery to me is why this film didn't become the boxoffice phenomenon on a par with many of the other films to come out that year.

Everything about this film works, and even did things that no other movie has done since. Every single cast member is immaculately chosen, and every single one plays their part to the hilt while playing off each other with perfect comedic precision.

Naturally Tim Curry wrangles the entire cast with total commands while Khan, McKean, Warren, and Lloyd all fight to steal the show from him. On a production design front the house is a perfect recreation of the board game architecture even down to the secret passages.

Meanwhile, the script effectively incoporates key aspects of the board game and those aspects lend a lot to the progression of the plot. Thus telling a highly involving murder mystery. Of course it also helps that the dialogue is addictive, and infinitely quotable.

Then of course you have my favorite element of the multiple endings. A concept which I think other movies should revisit. Not to mention for a murder mystery it gave us the ability to look at the film from different angles.

In conclusion forget Battleship (and you did) if you want to have a murderously good time look no further that Clue.