Jenna Gets (Film) Schooled #5: Clue
I Was In The Hall. I Know Because I Was There.
Year: 1985
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Written by: Jonathan Lynn (Story by Jonathan Lynn & John Landis)
Clue is so goddamn good that I’m furious I hadn’t seen it up until this point.
I don’t want to be one of those people who gets on their high horse and bemoans the state of the industry, specifically with regard to adaptations of IP, especially when that IP is a toy or a board game.
We get it. People think that Hollywood is a barren wasteland of retreads and safe plays, utterly devoid of original ideas. It’s not true, but that’s certainly what the message boards and comments sections think, and life is too short to waste a second of it trying to explain to angry internet chuds what a Sisyphean task it is to even get a movie made, let alone a good one.
I’m here to tell you that lawdy this adaptation of a board game is not just good, it’s spectacular.
Real quick: Clue is a murder mystery game where you need to determine who killed the victim, in what room, and with what weapon.
The film gathers everyone at an estate for a dinner party and, oops, someone is murdered and it’s revealed that all of the guests are being blackmailed for various and sundry indiscretions.
What follows is a whip-smart, brilliantly-acted, absolute riot of a comedy, and a masterclass in contained-location filmmaking.
If you’ve been on any streaming service lately, you’ll have noticed a glut of films - usually low-budget and probably made during the pandemic - that take place in one or two locations with a small handful of actors. The fewer locations you have, the fewer mouths you have to feed, the less money you have to spend.
The problem with a lot of these types of films is that they feel stagnant and listless. Much like a short film is in some ways tougher to write than a full-length screenplay because of the page constraints, one or two locations are harder to make interesting than one or two dozen because of the lack of variety. We humans get bored easily, especially these days.
The best filmmakers will take these limitations and one: use every single freakin’ inch of that singular location to maximal effect, and two: go A++ with writing and casting.
Dialogue better be crackling with energy. Performances better be shot through with emotion and range from actors with can’t-take-your-eyes-off-of-them magnetism.
In those regards, Clue is an embarrassment of riches.
The film flies by as questions are posited, the mystery deepens, and the bodies pile up. The humor is as dry as the Sahara, and the quips so quick you’ll need to watch the movie a second time - or have that rewind button handy - to catch them all (and even then you’ll probably need to watch it a third time).
The cast is stacked and everyone brings their A-game, but the standouts for me are… no, you know what? I went to list some people and realized I couldn’t choose between them.
So let’s just say that amidst the greatness, one actor had the movie resting on his shoulders and gives a virtuoso performance that should be studied not just for decades but for centuries to come. The fact that this man wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar… see the flames gif up top.
Tim Curry, everyone.
I’d implore you to run to the nearest TV, pop Clue on, and let it, and him, and them, entertain you.
This movie is a joy. I’m so glad I finally found it. 10/10.
Standout Moments
“I buttle, sir.”
The entire third act, where Tim Curry scurries around the mansion explaining what happened… and then what happened… and then what happened. Absolute manic bliss.
Fun Fact
Madeline Kahn’s flames line was improvised.
Double-Feature Potential
Knives Out. There’s no way Rian Johnson didn’t study the shit out of Clue while making his own dryly-comedic murder mystery set mostly in a large, lavish house!
Watch Tonight If…
You want to laugh your ass off.
You want your faith in adaptations restored, even if the example is nearly forty years old.
You want to see those involved having the time of their lives. It translates to the screen and it’s lightning in a bottle.