Clay Bidwell's (Joaquin Phoenix) life is getting complicated. His best friend Earl (Gregory Sporleder), having discovered that Clay has been sleeping with his wife Amanda (Georgina Cates), goes about committing suicide right in front of Clay's eyes; and making it appear that Clay was in fact responsible. When turning to Amanda for help proves futile, Clay takes it upon himself to roll his friend's car off a cliff, burning any incriminating evidence. But despite her husband's body not yet even being cold, and Clay's clear disgust, Amanda tries in vain to continue pursuing a relationship of infidelity. Her outrage over Clay's rejection is further fuelled when he begins seeing local waitress, Gloria (Nikki Arlyn). In retaliation Amanda shoots Gloria
. And Clay's life just gets messier and messier as he is forced to dispose of her body as well, for fear of Amanda exposing the truth behind Earl's death to the police.
Amidst all this chaos, Clay meets Lester (Vince Vaughn), and finds in this stranger an amiable fishing-buddy Amanda also finds him to be a substitute for Clay. But while on a fishing trip with Lester, both come across a dead girl's body floating in the river; neither are particularly shocked by the discovery. For Clay that makes a hefty body count of 3, and as he is forced to report his finding, the police believe him to have now discovered 2 bodies in the last week. Things are not looking good. And the added discovery of a very dead Amanda is not helping Clay much when a detective is called in from out of town, Agent Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) who believes him to be a serial killer who has already racked up a body count of 7 across the state. Now Clay not only has to prove his own innocence, but also try and stop the man he knows to be the killer .none other than his deranged fishing buddy, Lester the molester.
'Clay Pigeons' is entertaining, but slightly less so that other movies of its genre.
The cast is strong; though you really can't go wrong with Vince Vaughn as a psycho killer and Joaquin Phoenix as the brooding protagonist. Garofalo however gives a somewhat lack-luster performance, in which she is just going though the motions in a monotone voice. Not even her normally shining humor or quick-wit is wholly present.
There are also times in the film when humor would be much appreciated. More specifically though, blatant humor, so that there was no confusion of where the appropriate laughs are intended. It's a fine line since your not entirely sure whether to be deeply disturbed or in stitches of laughter by Lester. With a charismatic yet sinister laugh and hilarious cow-boy getup, the film's bad guy is a sort of oxymoron. Do we laugh at him? Do we hate him? Its just a little confusing when you have a famous comedian like Garofalo, and an actor known for his comedic roles, Vaughn; but your made to believe that the film is actually a crime thriller. It feels like Joaquin should have played the bad guy; with his pointed stare and dark, ominous presence. And while there is a sense of hilarity with the situation Clay finds himself in; whatever amusement can be drawn is dampened with somewhat gruesome scenes of deaths and decaying bodies.
Still, the film's climax is thrilling and unpredictable. And, overall, it is worth a watch. Just don't expect to be blown away.
Amidst all this chaos, Clay meets Lester (Vince Vaughn), and finds in this stranger an amiable fishing-buddy Amanda also finds him to be a substitute for Clay. But while on a fishing trip with Lester, both come across a dead girl's body floating in the river; neither are particularly shocked by the discovery. For Clay that makes a hefty body count of 3, and as he is forced to report his finding, the police believe him to have now discovered 2 bodies in the last week. Things are not looking good. And the added discovery of a very dead Amanda is not helping Clay much when a detective is called in from out of town, Agent Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) who believes him to be a serial killer who has already racked up a body count of 7 across the state. Now Clay not only has to prove his own innocence, but also try and stop the man he knows to be the killer .none other than his deranged fishing buddy, Lester the molester.
'Clay Pigeons' is entertaining, but slightly less so that other movies of its genre.
The cast is strong; though you really can't go wrong with Vince Vaughn as a psycho killer and Joaquin Phoenix as the brooding protagonist. Garofalo however gives a somewhat lack-luster performance, in which she is just going though the motions in a monotone voice. Not even her normally shining humor or quick-wit is wholly present.
There are also times in the film when humor would be much appreciated. More specifically though, blatant humor, so that there was no confusion of where the appropriate laughs are intended. It's a fine line since your not entirely sure whether to be deeply disturbed or in stitches of laughter by Lester. With a charismatic yet sinister laugh and hilarious cow-boy getup, the film's bad guy is a sort of oxymoron. Do we laugh at him? Do we hate him? Its just a little confusing when you have a famous comedian like Garofalo, and an actor known for his comedic roles, Vaughn; but your made to believe that the film is actually a crime thriller. It feels like Joaquin should have played the bad guy; with his pointed stare and dark, ominous presence. And while there is a sense of hilarity with the situation Clay finds himself in; whatever amusement can be drawn is dampened with somewhat gruesome scenes of deaths and decaying bodies.
Still, the film's climax is thrilling and unpredictable. And, overall, it is worth a watch. Just don't expect to be blown away.