Bobcat Goldthwait IS Shake's the Clown, an alcoholic party clown that often doesn't know where he's waking up but is a master of his profession and never fails to entertain the children with his acrobatics, juggling and magic tricks. His alcoholism has robbed him of many opportunities including a shot at hosting the local early morning kids show, which sets up a rivalry with 'Binky' an ambitious party clown that doesn't care about kids and has a side gig with some drug dealing rodeo clowns, the biker gang of the clown world.
Shakes has perhaps THE best introduction of any underdog put on screen and then it goes downhill from there... then it gets better.... Then it goes down.... Then it gets better and you see where this is going... it's pretty uneven. The conflict is pretty thin but movie absolutely shines with its portrayal of down-on-their-luck clowns living one day to the next dreaming of a better life and that one big break. A friend mentioned the whole film is meant to be an allegory for life as a standup comedian and it really feels that way. Narratively it reminded me of Anchorman if you replaced all the newscasters with clowns. There are plenty of great supporting characters including the always underrated Julie Brown as Shakes' girlfriend with the worst case of rhotacism since Elmer Fudd, pre SnL Adam Sandler as Shakes friend, pre Sponge Bob Tom Kenny as Binky one of the best villains ever written into a dark comedy and Robin Williams as a mime instructor with anger management issues.
It's a must see... there's a reason it's a cult hit.
Shakes has perhaps THE best introduction of any underdog put on screen and then it goes downhill from there... then it gets better.... Then it goes down.... Then it gets better and you see where this is going... it's pretty uneven. The conflict is pretty thin but movie absolutely shines with its portrayal of down-on-their-luck clowns living one day to the next dreaming of a better life and that one big break. A friend mentioned the whole film is meant to be an allegory for life as a standup comedian and it really feels that way. Narratively it reminded me of Anchorman if you replaced all the newscasters with clowns. There are plenty of great supporting characters including the always underrated Julie Brown as Shakes' girlfriend with the worst case of rhotacism since Elmer Fudd, pre SnL Adam Sandler as Shakes friend, pre Sponge Bob Tom Kenny as Binky one of the best villains ever written into a dark comedy and Robin Williams as a mime instructor with anger management issues.
It's a must see... there's a reason it's a cult hit.