Clay Pigeons (1998) / Thriller-Comedy

MPAA Rated: R for strong scenes of sexuality, language and violence
Running Time: 104 min.

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn, Janeane Garofalo, Scott Wilson
Director: David Dobkin
Screenplay: Matthew L. Healy
Review published April 29, 1999

Clay is setup by the husband of the woman he's having an affair when hubby commits suicide and tries to make it look like Clay killed him. Clay wants no one to suspect so he sends the truck off of a cliff. The unscrupulous widow still want to continue the affair, but Clay wants none of it. Enter a stranger named Lester, who is a serial killer, and offs the widow and a couple of others. The bad news for Lester is that evidence still points to him.

CLAY PIGEONS is a woefully uneven black comedy which sports a hip, young cast and a first-time writer as well as director. The movie does have a watchability, but stupid law enforcement following stupid criminals leads to stupid entertainment. The cast looks like they are having fun with the material, but this infectiousness doesn't translate into interest in the dumb plot and underdeveloped characters. Had the script been any good, it probably could have been decent, but had the makers of the film used it to line birdcages instead of funding a budget to make it, it would have been put to better use.

Qwipster's rating:

©1999 Vince Leo