Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Baum, Steve Bean, Julie Brown, Blake Clark, Eliza Coyle
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 8, 1999
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630243940X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,090 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YES YES YES! The Most Underrated Comedy Ever!, July 16, 2000

By	Nate Goyer (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakes the Clown (DVD)

I love DVD movies and for the longest time, the only reason I kept my laserdisc player was because I was afraid that "Shakes the Clown" would never come out on DVD. Let's face it; "Shakes the Clown" was an absolute flop in the theaters, and Bobcat Golthwait gambled his career on the movie, which never quite recovered. But since on video, "Shakes the Clown" has gained a strong cult following as one of the funniest, irreverent, misunderstood comedies of all time.

There are 2 kinds of people in this world; People who like "Shakes the Clown" and people who don't. Here's a quiz to find out which camp you fall into: If you like Liam Neeson movies, thought Julia Roberts was at her perkiest in the Runaway Bride, eat a lot of low-fat food and don't understand most Adam Sandler jokes, this isn't your movie. However, if you like South Park, if the Cable Guy was your favorite Jim Carrey film, and can appreciate the brilliance of well-constructed potty-humor, "Shakes the Clown" is right up your alley.

Bobcat is Shakes the Clown; an alcoholic party clown that doesn't know how to turn his life around. He hangs out in a dumpy clown-bar ("The Twisted Balloon"), and vainly wishes he could be a television clown. All he needs is one big break, but he's generally too drunk to do what's best for himself, like practice his juggling and regular pie-throwing target practice.

Binky the clown is his arch nemesis; Binky is the suburban party-clown that is used to things going his way. Binky is also busy pushing dope he buys from the more rowdy Rodeo Clowns. Shakes ends up in the wrong place during a bad drug deal and gets framed for killing a leader of the clown community with a juggling pin.

That's the basic plot and you know by now whether you will enjoy the movie or not. In my opinion it's absolutely brilliant and, even though crude at times, makes for an interesting look at the different factions within society and how we behave towards people from different backgrounds. It's not a cutesy morale-building movie, but it's message is thinly cloaked with hilarious dialogue and humor.

Now I can finally sell my laserdisc player.....

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Call it a weakness...., February 21, 2003

By	Chris the Proud American Patriot "skeetalicio... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakes the Clown (DVD)

I know, I know, this movie is probably last on the list of Oscar-worthy films. It had an absolutely terrible plot, stretched out certain scenes far too long to act as "filler" for gaps... That being said, there were enough scenes which had me rolling with laughter to keep me interested until the movie ended...Robin Williams' cameo as head instructor at The Invisible Rope, were all hilarious. The social bickering between the mimes, party clowns, and rodeo clowns, was actually somewhat clever.

By no means what we would call "quality" cinema, but I've always had a weakness for cheap, mindless humor. It's a nice relief from the usual overdramatic, uptight tearjerkers we're bombarded with every time the Oscars loom over the horizon.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mime is a terrible thing to waste, July 10, 2006

By	D. Hartley (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Shakes the Clown (DVD)

Pre-dating the much more popular "Bad Santa" by a good decade or so, Bobcat Goldthwait's sole directorial effort may have been a little too ahead of its time for its own good. Not that this is a groundbreaking piece of cinema, but within its narrow genre (Bitter Alcoholic Children's Entertainers) it has become a cult classic. Depending on your innate sense of humor, you will be either unspeakably shocked or wickedly delighted. Bobcat plays the title role fairly straight, considering the outrageousness of the story's central conceit. Something almost all reviews I've ever read seem to miss is the fact that Goldthwait's "clowns" are really a send-up of stand-up comedians, with all the backstage insecurity, jealously, pettiness and angst barely contained by the "happy" face paint (Maybe I recognize this underlying context because I used to work in stand up!) Julie Brown is appropriately twisted as the "love is blind" girlfriend, and Robin Williams almost steals the movie in his cameo as an abusive mime instructor. Not for all tastes, but worth a peek.