Shakes The Clown

Shakes The Clown (1991)

Dir: Bobcat Goldwaith

Starring: BobCat Goldwaith ( Police Academy 2 and 4/Hot to Trot) Julie Brown ( Earth Girls are Easy/Plump Fiction/Bloody Birthday), Florence Henderson/Adam Sandler/Kathy Griffin/Lawrence Page/Robin Williams

So First of all I must say that this film is paced extremely well paced especially compared to the last piece of trash I watched. This film was entertaining from beginning to end and never had a dull moment. I don't understand how this film has not reached a huge cult following due to it's greatness.

Our story opens with Shakes ( Bobcat) waking up hungover after a night of partying with a clown groupie played by Florence Henderson, after quickly getting ready he heads to a children's party to entertain. We quickly learn that Shakes has a serious drinking problem but he seems to love his job to an extent. While at the party several other clowns hang out at a local clown bar called the Twisted Balloon and they hear that rival clown Binky has just been awarded the spot on a popular T.V. Cartoon show which makes all of the clowns upset. Since Binky is somewhat of an outcast and asshole to all the others and acts as if he is some sort of mafia boss over his fellow goons. Shake arrives at the bar shortly after the party to visit his girlfriend Jdy who is upset at him for not coming home the previous night and after accusing him of cheating she breaks up with Shakes just before he is given the news of Binky getting the T.V. role over himself. SO things are not looking good for Shakes.

After the bad news Shakes goes on a drinking binge and the following morning his  friends try to get him off of the bottle. On route to another party Shakes begins to go through withdraws and makes it to the event regardless, but once there after snapping on a kid he sneaks some drinks from the house and goes on a rampage leading to him getting fired. So things only seem to be getting worse for poor Shakes. At the bar Binky and his pals plan to meet up with some rodeo clowns to score some coke to celebrate, and after a change of heart Shakes manager decides to give Shakes another chance and while looking for him he runs in on Binky and crew snorting coke which leads to Binky killing Shakes manager Cheese in the process. This scene also provides one if the funniest lines in the entire film.. After the murder Binky and crew tries to frame Shakes for the murder.

 "All you saw was four happy clowns eating beef, White powdery Beef!"

Shakes and posse head to a rodeo clown bar to track down the Clowns who tried to kill him and this leads to a brawl where they gain info on who killed Cheese, Meanwhile Judy is being kidnapped and tortured by Binky before his opening show. Shakes gets word of Judy's whereabouts and heads to Binky's show where he is throwing knives at her. Shakes makes the save and this leads to Binky getting arrested and Judy and Shakes rekindling their relationship. We do get a happy ending of sorts as Shakes begins attending AA meetings and he takes over the cartoon show. 

 Raise the roof

I must say I am leaving allot out of this review because this film in my opinion is a must see. Certainly one of the funniest under rated films out there. The film is filled with great lines and scenes and all the characters are interesting and really draw you in. Robin Williams as the Mime instructor is priceless and Julie Brown is adorable with her speech impediment. The role of Binky is well played and borderline creepy and convincingly psychotic.This films is certainly worth tracking down and giving a watch because it is entertaining from the get  and kind of plays out like a Clown version of Big Lebowski in a way, which is a good thing. Bobcat tones down his over the top annoying act in this one and is convincing in the role of a children's party clown down on his luck. Also it is a trip to see all the cameos from people before they became famous such as Adam Sandler, Kathy Griffin and some others, Truly a fun time and I cannot recommend this one more . 

If you are looking for a odd dark comedy with heart this one truly fits the bill. This one was just what I needed after the crap i watched last night and I suggest all of you who have not seen it too watch it for sure.

Gore:0

Nudity:0

Story:8

Characters:8

Overall: 7.5 out of 10