An alcoholic, foul mouthed clown named Shakes (Bobcat) plays children's birthday parties with his clown friends. Later on his girl gets kidnapped by a psychopathic clown.
I've been a fan of Bobcat since he played Zed in the "Police Academy" films and stole many scenes. This was a box office flop which is a shame as there is some very funny stuff in here. It probably came a few years too late to cash in on the "bad clown" trend after "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" (1988), "IT" (1990) and "Carny" (1980). The sad clown is something I never get bored of seeing and Bobcat Goldthwait does a good job at creating a sympathetic, hilarious character from a flawed, despicable human similar to Billybob Thornton in "Bad Santa".
The film has a lot of dark comedy, vulgarity and some tongue in cheek slapstick. Most of the jokes land thanks to an experienced cast including a young Adam Sandler, a memorable Robin Williams cameo and a role were Julie Brown can test her comedy chops. Sadly the film ran out of steam near the end when the kidnapping plot took place, which takes up a third of the movie. It wasn't convincing or nasty enough for me to feel peril for the characters.
This film is difficult to find outside the US. I'm glad I saw it and apart from some great acting and a smart script it doesn't really get above the good, but not great level.
I've been a fan of Bobcat since he played Zed in the "Police Academy" films and stole many scenes. This was a box office flop which is a shame as there is some very funny stuff in here. It probably came a few years too late to cash in on the "bad clown" trend after "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" (1988), "IT" (1990) and "Carny" (1980). The sad clown is something I never get bored of seeing and Bobcat Goldthwait does a good job at creating a sympathetic, hilarious character from a flawed, despicable human similar to Billybob Thornton in "Bad Santa".
The film has a lot of dark comedy, vulgarity and some tongue in cheek slapstick. Most of the jokes land thanks to an experienced cast including a young Adam Sandler, a memorable Robin Williams cameo and a role were Julie Brown can test her comedy chops. Sadly the film ran out of steam near the end when the kidnapping plot took place, which takes up a third of the movie. It wasn't convincing or nasty enough for me to feel peril for the characters.
This film is difficult to find outside the US. I'm glad I saw it and apart from some great acting and a smart script it doesn't really get above the good, but not great level.