shakercoola
Board game, theatrical show, TV series and film, Cluedo (later known as Clue in the USA) is something of a social phenomenon. As a film, its success is the machine gunning of throwaway gags and one liners, and spoofing of the McCarthyite era and 1950s idealism which is amusing. Structurally there are some flaws, mainly in the second act when it invoke dispirit due to its less credible characters.
However, if you're going to do screwball or farce then you need to do it well. What better cast could you hope for than a bunch of very talented comedy actors who can produce good comic timing without one overshadowing the other. That said, it is a pity one or two of the ensemble didn't produce a little more impressive style because we were left with dear Tim Curry, Leslie Anne Warren and Eileen Brennan to work harder while the plot uncoiled so frenetically.
All in all, it is a likable artifact.
wisconsinator
Deaths, which I believe occurred in the order I list them: Mr Boddy, a guest (Lee Ving), but not one of the initial six who sat to dinner. Apparently it takes two attempts on his life to successfully do him in.The cook, Mrs Ho (played by Kellye Nakahara who portrayed nurses with three different names on M*A*S*H), with a knife in her back, found in the reefer in the kitchen.Stranded Motorist (Jeffrey Kramer) is killed in the lounge.Police Officer -billed as The Cop- (Bill Henderson) in the library.Singing Telegram Girl (Jane Wiedlin) is shot immediately outside the front door, with her only spoken dialog "Da da, da dun dun dun . . . I am your singing telegram girl . . ." Yvette the Maid (Colleen Camp) is found dead in the billiard room, choked with a hangman's rope.Three different endings were used: the first making Miss Scarlet the murderer; the second blames Mrs Peacock; while the third places responsibility with multiple characters, with Plum killing Boddy, Peacock killing the cook, Mustard killing the motorist, White killing Yvette the Maid, and Scarlet killing The Cop, while Green is accused of shooting the telegram girl. After this, Green is forced to shoot Butler Wadsworth, and reveals himself as an FBI agent planted in the house as part of an investigation. A forth ending exists, but the director insisted it be abandoned because it "wasn't very good."
Gregory Porter
For those who have not had the pleasure of playing the board game Clue, let me give a brief overview. A body was found in a mansion. The players have to explore the mansion, picking up clues along the way, and determine the identity of the murderer (Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, etc.), the murder weapon (gun, knife, candlestick, etc.) and where the murder took place (library, study, kitchen, etc.).We open to a dark night, as a car approaches a mansion. A butler named Wadsworth (Curry) steps out of the car and throws some bones to two large guard dogs. He starts to head inside but then stops, slowly looks down towards his shoe and then to the dogs with irritation. He stepped in dog poop. That's comedy gold, am-I-right? Now, we slowly but surely meet the rest of the cast who are given aliases to protect their identity. Wadsworth had summoned the group together to confront Mr. Body, who had been blackmailing each of the characters. Mr. Body responds by giving each character a weapon (the same ones from the game) and states that unless someone kills Wadsworth, their secrets will be exposed. Someone is murdered and the characters have to find out who did it, where and with what. The movie is a perfectly adequate adaptation of the elements of the game.Normally, I'm not the biggest fan of silly humor and Clue is pretty darn silly. Like having Wadsworth step in dog poop and then having each of the characters smell the air and check their shoes when he is around. But, for some reason, I don't mind it here. That is, I don't mind it as much as I normally would. Maybe I give it some slack because it's based off of a board game. It doesn't take itself too seriously like some board game-based movies- I'm lookin' at you, Battleship. Maybe it fills my goofy comedy quota. In any case, because of the type of humor (even though I let it slide) Clue is one of those movies that I can only really see once every couple years.I do find some of the 80's centered jokes amusing though. At some point, someone says, "It's Hoover on the phone for you." "Why would the FBI director be on your phone?" "He's on everyone else's, why should mine be any different?" Zing! Now, I don't really know anything about Hoover but I get the idea and it's kinda funny. You know, as far as it goes.One of the neat parts about the movie is that when it appeared, one of three endings was played at the theaters. When you watch it now, at the end of the movie, comes a card that reads, "That's how it could've happened. But how about this?" That gives a good indication of the light tone of the movie.Overall, I'd recommend Clue if you're in the mood for something silly. I kinda put it in the same family as Austin Powers and I'm sure just about everyone has seen Austin Powers a dozen times. So, if you want that sort of experience but something a little new, check out Clue. Oh and it has Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd which is pretty cool, you know?
