6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Shakes plods about his duties as party clown, and uses all of his free time getting seriously drunk. Binky, another clown, wins the spot on a local kiddie show, which depresses Shakes even more, and his boss threatens him with unemployment if he can't get his act under control. When someone murders Shakes' boss and makes it look like Shakes did it, he goes undercover, posing as a hated mime, and tries to find information that will clear his name.
Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Blake Clark, Paul Dooley, Kathy GriffinDark humor | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Shakes the Clown was Bad Santa before Billy Bob Thornton turned the world's most famously fictional jolly fat man bearing gifts and smiles into a slovenly, womanizing, drunken thief. Writer/Director Bobcat Goldthwait's 1991 film does the same for clowns, his picture depicting a down-on-his-luck entertainer as a perpetually drunken slob with aspirations to quit the bottle and do something with his life. Complications, unsurprisingly, abound, from both expected rivals and unexpected enemies. The film is darkly humorous, playing better in comedic spurts rather than in its subtle-not-subtle study of the clown condition. Hardly a great film but offering enough memorable moments keep it hanging on as a minor cult favorite, Shakes the Clown manages to entertain with its blend of slapstick, adult humor, and curious glimpse into the life and times of a walking dichotomy, bright and fun on the outside, dark and empty on the inside.
Shakes. Clown.
Shakes the Clown is another Mill Creek catalogue Blu-ray releasing with an MPEG-2 encode. The 1080p transfer holds strong, however, offering what is generally an attractive and largely filmic image. Grain retention is pleasantly consistent, largely even, unobtrusive, and complimentary and only spiking into a sharper, snowier or noisier pattern as scenes grow increasingly dark. Barroom interiors are a good example, where the lower light can render blacks and shadow details a bit below ideal. Colors -- all of the clown makeup and attire -- lose some of their vitality in these scenes, too, but brighter exteriors reveal enough punchy diversity to please, highlighting traditional clown colors like red and green. Details are by-and-large strong, with closeups revealing fine-point facial stubble, often mixed in with face paint, offering one of the more interesting and organic surfaces in the film. Clothes, environments, and various nicknacks around the frame hold relatively sharp and clear, too. Print wear is very minor and serious, distracting compression artifacts are very few and far between.
Shakes the Clown's LPCM 2.0 uncompressed soundtrack carries the movie well enough. It's never particularly wanting for added surround
depth, and front end extension is largely satisfactory. Music pushes out nicely, delivering clear, accurate notes that cannot match a more finely tuned
track but that do carry the movie's general music needs well enough. Support effects present with solid imaging and sense of place, while general
atmospherics -- din at a child's birthday party, billiards and other bits inside a barroom -- help draw the listener in, even without a real sense of total
immersion. Dialogue is the primary driver here, and it's suitably clear, usually finding a comfortable center-imaged location but occasionally adrift out
in between the center and one side or another. Overall, however, the track delivers a good baseline listen.
Note that, for whatever reason, the disc defaults the included English SDH subtitles to "on."
Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Shakes the Clown contains one extra, a commentary track with Writer/Director/Actor Bobcat Goldthwait and Actors Tom Kenny and Julie Brown, who are imaged across the front left to right in that order. The track offers a nicely tuned combination of insightful thoughts and jovial banter. It's often more fun than the movie and fans will find it a worthwhile listen.
Shakes the Clown is no great shakes, but it is a solid, though certainly rough-around-the-edges, Dark Comedy that doesn't do its thing as well as Bad Santa (the first one, anyway, not the abysmal second) but that does craft an interesting glimpse into the life of a man whose outer color and cheer is countered by his inner darkness and depravity. It could certainly benefit from a tightening of all areas, but the film manages to entertain, largely, despite some slowdowns and bouts of randomness getting in the way of the train wreck laughs and deeper contemplative structure. Mill Creek's Blu-ray delivers solid video and serviceable audio. The supplemental package is limited to an enjoyable audio commentary track. Recommended to fans considering the price and the decent picture quality.
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