TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Scott LeBrun Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait made an interesting filmmaking debut with this not bad mix of comedy and drama. Bobcat plays "Shakes", a clown who is barely functioning in life. When he actually shows up for work, he does a decent enough job, but he just cannot stay off the sauce. This frustrates his patient girlfriend, Judy (MTV personality Julie Brown), and even his friends such as Stenchy (Blake Clark) and Dink (Adam Sandler, in one of his earliest film roles). Eventually, Shakes must pull it together and clear himself when he's framed for a murder.Clearly, this has become a cult favourite, although this viewer would be lying if he said that he found it all that funny himself. It's mildly amusing at best, with some good moments, but it's never really inspired. One of the brightest bits of business occurs when Robin Williams shows up (billed as "Marty Fromage") as a mime teacher. It is also a hoot the way that clowns such as Shakes, Stenchy, and Dink declare war on mimes earlier in the picture and rough them up. It would have been nice had it been a little more of a dark comedy, but it never really gets that dark. Too much time is wasted with two unfunny cop characters.Certainly the cast gets an A for effort. Bobcat is good in the lead, managing to elicit some sympathy along the way. Brown is sweet as his leading lady, speaking with a noticeable lisp. Tom Kenny (voice of Sponge Bob Squarepants) is a great sociopathic bad guy, "Binky" the clown. Other familiar faces include Florence Henderson, Sydney Lassick, La Wanda Page, Joel Murray, Tim Kazurinsky, and Paul Dooley.Off-kilter enough to keep it watchable, with a bright wrap-up and a lively soundtrack.

jaredmobarak Quite the interesting film from the warped mind of Bobcat Goldthwait. Shakes the Clown is his debut as a writer/director and tells the story about an alcoholic clown who, while passed out drunk, is framed for the murder of his boss and mentor. From the catch phrase "Loved by children. Desired by woman. Adored by bartenders everywhere" I was expecting something a little more perverse and out there. Instead, we are given a pretty run of the mill, mediocre comedy where the bumbling hero and misfit friends must uncover the evil villain, who until then is seen as the good guy. The loved by children part is a nice touch because no matter how mean or abusive he is to the adults, he is a fantastic clown (what agility on this guy). As for the desired by woman, he has a one night stand and a girlfriend—he is just being tormented by the number of ladies all over him—as for the bartenders, he usually is outside while the friends stick to the bar. Shakes is just too good of a guy to really make the role believable as being a deadbeat.The biggest surprise here is the amount of supporting players that have gone on to accomplish things in the industry. An almost unrecognizable Kathy Griffin, (pre-surgery indeed); the usual solid performance from character actor Blake Clark; newcomer Adam Sandler, a tad bit raw, delivering lines like he is at a stand-up event, the guy has come far; and Robin Williams, who steals his scene and is probably the funniest part of the entire film. Besides these, however, we get a lot of amateurish work. I don't want to be mean, but I could not stand Julie Brown. She has the looks and the affectionate glances to be the by-her-man girlfriend, but her speech pattern is horrid. Not being able to pronounce the letter "r," she sounds like me when I was 5 before taking speech therapy. How there is not a feature length gag reel is beyond me, because these guys could not have kept straight faces opposite her.A couple more roles gave me mixed feelings. Tom Kenny, as the villainous Binky, has quite the extensive filmography…as a voice-over pro. I can see why he would be so successful, as he is very over the top here, great for cartoons, not so much when you have to see his broad facial expressions that go along with the words. He reminded me a bit of David Paymer, and I couldn't stop thinking how much better he would have done at the job. Paymer just has the sad sack, stick a knife in your back role down pat. The other role is the cop with high blood pressure. His delivery was awkward and a bit forced. Funny as it was, especially opposite his amused by the littlest things partner, he did stick out.I must give credit to Bobcat for attempting to do something new in the genre. Although it is an overused plot, he tries to spice things up by setting it in the world of clowns; they overrun the town. I kept waiting to see if a normal person would arrive to entertain them. Moments do work throughout, like the fights with mimes, the rodeo clown clique, and the bickering at the bar, but there is just too much stuff that fails; it's so broad that it elicited more yawns than chuckles. I ended up having to play a game with myself to stay with it by finding all the hidden things I could. My favorites were the cop putting a gun two inches from a convict's face in the background while Bobcat is released from jail and the production company responsible for the clown television show, (watch the credits on the TV for it).

Dennis Marcum This movie has an All Star cast, (or at least a lot of them)Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Florence Henderson, & LaWanda Page (aunt Ester from Sanford and Son). A stark look at alcoholism through the loopy eyes of rouge clowns. They drink and carouse, drive strange clown cars, and close down "The Twisted Balloon" bar every night. No one as well as Shakes (Bobcat Goldthwait). He wakes up every morning puking but he doesn't have a problem because and can quit when he wants. He just doesn't because he has a lot of fun drinking. He gets fired drinking at a kids party and going nuts (a very funny scene). There are so many zany one liners in this movie. Like when the bar fly lady Aunt ester says "As soon as that camera is off, he gonna f*** that little dog." after Peppy the Clown announces his (forced) retirement from the clown kids TV show. He's all crying and announcing his replacement "Binky" the biggest piece of crap in clown land. Shake thought he was going to get the TV show, guess not. At the bar one of Binkies cronies tells Shakes "Oh, yeah? Well, the only show YOU could ever star in would be a show called the... Not... Funny... DIARRHEA CLUB!" Later Binky frames Shakes for killing Owen Cheese, Shakes boss and father figure (after Shakes dad died in that elephant mishap) Owen finds Binky and a couple of dope dealing rodeo clowns snorting coke and Binky gives a funny line-"You didn't see nothing old man. We're just five happy party clowns, sitting down to a plate of beef. White- powdery- beef." The rest of the show is about Shakes figuring out he did not kill his boss (he was so drunk he didn't know) then finally finding redemption at a 12 step program. This show is hard to watch for people who can't understand addiction, especially when its twisted into a whimsical very dark comedy. Very unique, nothing else even close to like it!

Knox Bronson I can't speak too highly about this masterpiece of comedy. My sons, 22 & 23 years old, respectively, and I have watched this movie twenty times over the years ... there are so many great scenes ... amazing lines. It is a work of pure genius. Unfortunately, such personal and amazingly realized artistic visions like this one of Goldthwait's are rarely valued in this culture.I am glad to see there are so many people who give the movie 10 stars. Needless to say, those who dislike the film are the kind of pinheads and morons who have never hung out with such clowns (party or rodeo), mimes, or drunks. Don't even know why they bothered to post comments: I suspect hidden issues at play.Great cast, great script. The Bobcat deserves a lifetime achievement award for Shakes alone!