Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Kathy Griffin, Adam Sandler, Blake Clark & Tom Kenny
Directed By Bobcat Goldthwait
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102898/
There was a time when you could see a cheesy/raunchy comedy that wouldn't offend too much, while still feeling you were "Alternative". 1991 was a huge year for issues. Rodney King, The Gulf War, Mike Tyson & the arrest, The Discovery of Jeffery Dahmer and his "Hobby", & the collapse of the Soviet Union. 1991 was also a decent year for movies. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Silence Of The Lambs, & Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves all came out and did well with audiences.
By that same measure though, there were other movies that came out not so......well. Cold As Ice, King Ralph, The Rocketeer, The Super, & Nothing But Trouble. In the middle of all of the Hollywood Bullshit and big releases, there was the the middle ground. The ones who almost always go and see movies that critics like, but don't make as much as the bigger releases. That year had some movie just like that. Naked Lunch, The People Under The Stairs, My Own Private Idaho, & Dead Again.
Among all of those movies one stood out as almost a total outcast. Shakes The Clown is really nothing more than a cheap-o movie filmed with a decent cast. To see Adam Sandler dressed as a clown, beating up mimes is awesome. Robin Williams makes a hilarious cameo as mime instructor, Julie Brown plays an annoying but lovable girlfriend to Goldthwait's character Shakes, and Tom Kenny ( Spongebob and Chowder ) killed the role as Binky The Clown.
The story revolves around Shakes the drunken party clown. Shakes ( Goldthwait ) plods through his job with drunken ease, and little concern. With his buddies Stenchy ( Clark ) and Dink ( Sandler ), shakes goes through the motion of boozing up, doing parties, and beating up mimes. His girlfriend Judy ( Brown ) want more out of life than her current occupation, and for shakes to sober up. One day it is announced that Binky ( Kenny ) will be the successor to a kids show, and not shakes. That news puts shakes into a deeper depression. As if that's not enough, Shakes gets framed for his boss's murder.
All of this wrapped into a little foul mouthed package for you to laugh at. I really enjoyed the heart of this movie, and was reminded of the early 90's and kinda free cinema. A few years later True Romance would come out and really set the bar for violent films. Shakes The Clown would fare pretty well by today's crowd. Hell, I'm more surprised that the self proclaimed "Juggalos" of the world don't have this movie listed as one of their favorites.
If you want a good time and some good laughs at the expense of a low budget movie, then this would be a perfect match. Extra Kudos to Bobcat Goldthwait for being the writer and director at the same time. Just too bad his career didn't fetch him more that his current standing.
-Mr. What?- ( * * * )
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