Review of Shakes the Clown (1991) by Ryan J — 18 Aug 2009

"It's the Citizen Kane of Alcoholic Clown Movies!" - Martin Scorsese on Shakes The Clown.

Scorsese was right. Shakes The Clown is indeed a masterpiece in the alcoholic clown genre. Bobcat Goldthwait has created a deeply bizarre absurdist dark comedy that, while rough around the edges, actually comes close to capturing a similar feel and tone to some of the classic dark comedies of the ages (Including Scorsese's own). It may not be an exquisite masterpiece of direction and writing, but it is damn funny, and it creates a convincing surrealistic world in the fictional town of "Palukaville".

Weirdly enough, the opening moments are actually played semi-seriously as we watch Shakes sinking to the depths of his alcoholism. At this point, we are thinking that this will be a clown version of Leaving Las Vegas. The tortured character study could have been an interesting way to take these ideas but it is not to be. With the arrival of the underrated Tom Kenny in a fantastic performance as Shakes' arch-nemesis, Binky, the film jettisons that route and becomes an absurdist, surreal comedy of the extreme variety.

The movie is damn funny. The screenplay is chock full of clever ideas and lines and situations for maximum viewing enjoyment. Goldthwait also shows that he has a directorial eye and is able to give his film a unique look with some very cool shots here and there. There are plenty of great small cameos from Robin Williams, Paul Dooley, Blake Clark, and Adam Sandler in an extremely early role.

As with most absurd comedies, the film finds it a bit difficult to keep the absurdity going for too long. It does start to lag a bit in the final twenty minutes. Despite that, Shakes is nevertheless a comedy experience that is hilarious as it is rough.