| Shakes the Clown | |
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Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Bobcat Goldthwait |
| Produced by | Paul Colichman Ann Luly-Goldthwait |
| Written by | Bobcat Goldthwait |
| Starring | Bobcat Goldthwait Julie Brown Tom Kenny Blake Clark Adam Sandler Robin Williams |
| Music by | Tom Scott |
| Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski Elliot Davis |
| Editing by | J. Kathleen Gibson |
| Distributed by | IRS Media (Theatrical) Columbia-Tristar Home Video (Home Video) |
| Release date(s) | March 13, 1992 |
| Running time | 87 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,400,000 (estimated) |
Shakes the Clown is a 1992 American movie directed and written by Bobcat Goldthwait, who performs the title role. It also features Julie Brown, Blake Clark, Paul Dooley, Kathy Griffin, Florence Henderson, Tom Kenny, Adam Sandler, Scott Herriott, LaWanda Page, Jack Gallagher, and a cameo by Robin Williams as Mime Jerry (using the pseudonym Marty Fromage).
The movie is a dark comedy about a birthday-party clown (Goldthwait) in the grip of depression and alcoholism, who is framed for murder. Different communities of clowns, mimes and other performers are depicted as clannish, rivalrous subcultures obsessed with precedence and status. This was Goldthwait's bitter satire of the dysfunctional standup comedy circuit he knew as a performer.
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Shakes the Clown was not a financial success, earning only about $115,000 in ticket sales against an estimated budget of $1.4 million.[1]
Critical reaction to the movie was decidedly mixed: Leonard Maltin gave it his lowest rating, while Betsy Sherman of The Boston Globe called it "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies".[2] Roger Ebert gave Shakes 2-out-of-4 stars, writing that some isolated scenes are "very funny" but the plot was scattered and the performances often under-rehearsed.[3] As of mid-2011, the movie has a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews.[4]
In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Goldthwait revealed that no less than Martin Scorsese had defended the movie from detractors. When a film critic derided the movie in order to make a point about good and bad movies, Scorsese revealed, "I like Shakes the Clown. Haven't you heard? It's the Citizen Kane of Alcoholic Clown Movies!"[5]
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