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Clay Pigeons (15-Sep-1998)
Director: David Dobkin Writer: Matt Healy Music by: John Lurie Producers: Ridley Scott; Chris Zarpas Keywords: Crime/Comedy, Suicide, Serial Killer
CAST REVIEWS Review by anonymous (posted on 10-Jul-2006) Clay Pigeons is the story of a man
by the name of Clay Bidwell (Joaquim Pheonix), who is having an affair
with the wife of his best friend. The story starts with the two of them
in a remote, dusty, plateau in the hills of their small-town, America
home. When Clay's apparet best-friend confronts him about the affair,
before committing suicide in a way that puts Clay firmly in the frame
for his murder. Clay panics, and tells his dead friend's, clearly
indifferent, adulteress wife, what has happened. Clay subsequently
returns, covers the body in alcohol, and pushes his friend's truck off
a cliff, hoping that the police will think it was an accident. In
stereo-typical, small-town police, style the cops don't even bother to
have the body autopsied, which puts Clay in the clear. That is, until
his dead friend's, unrelentessly promiscuous, nymphomanic, widow sees
the passing of her husband, in this 'tragic accident', as the perfect
opportunity to exercise her, quite obviously, bunny-boiling, lust for
Clay. He refuses her latest attempt to seduce him in a public bar,
whilst he plays pool; reaching breaking-point, he slaps her. She
threatens to tell the police what really happened before storming out.
Then, in steps the observant Lester Long (Vaughn), using a comical
remark over what had just happened to break the ice. Lester soon uses
his inimitable charm to befriend Clay. But, then things really start to
turn difficult for Clay, when he asks out the girl who works at the
local diner, and his dead friend's, now completely maniacal widow
shoots her while Clay and her are having sex, again leaving Clay in the
frame for murder. Clay, dumps the body in the lake. But when Lester and
he are fishing at the lake, the body floats to the surface. Lester
suggests they phone the police, but tells Clay he can't be late for
work, as his boss has it in for him, and asks his new friend to omit
his name from the police report. Clay agrees, and ends up having to do
all the explaining. This time, though, the police ask a few more
questions, and when the crazy widow ends up knifed to death in a
frenzied attack at her home, FBI agent Janeane Garofalo turns up to
investigate. The finger of blame then starts pointing squarely at Clay.
Clay, then decides he must tell the police about his friend Lester, so
as to prove his innocence. But the information that Lester has provided
is all false and no trace of him can be found. The movie then becomes
the typical race to prove his innocence and prove that Lester is
actually a serial killer. Pheonix is intense and plays the character of
a young man, caught up in a nightmare situation, well, and Vaughn does
a, worringly convincing, job as the smooth-talking, yet cold and
calculating, psychopath. The script is a clever mix of sharp one-liners
and thrilling suspense. And the back-drop of the small town in the
middle of no-where, only adds to the sense of helplessness of the main
character, but there is also an element of comedy to the whole
predicament, as the situation goes from bad to worse for Clay. Verdict:
Great performances by both Vaughn and Pheonix, and this David Dobkin
thriller is clevery carved out.
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