The funniest UNpopular film of the 1990s!
David M. Glasgow | Carlisle, PA USA | 06/30/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Clue is Paramount Pictures' comedic film rendering of the classic Parker Brothers board game of the same name. But don't let that dissuade you from seeing this one. Although you'll recognize the chromatic character names, unlikely murder weapons, and Victorian mansion settings, tracking down the murderer in the movie version of Clue requires a good deal more than a deck of cards and a notepad. (It's a lot more fun this way, too.)Involving the talents of seven of Hollywood's funniest funny people, including Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White, Christopher Lloyd as Professor Plum, and Tim Curry as Wadsworth, the requisite butler, the film is guaranteed to keep you laughing. The script is packed with sparklingly witty exchanges, such as this one between Wadsworth and an angry Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull):Mustard: Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests?Wadsworth: You don't need any help from me.Mustard: That's right!Later in the picture, as the by-now-blasé guests glance down at the most recent victim, Mr. Green (Michael McKean) updates the count to "Six murders." Wadsworth's grave response? "This is getting serious." And Wadsworth's explanation of "who killed whom where and with what" at the end of the picture is packed with the impersonations, facial expressions, and things not-quite-British that rank Tim Curry among the funniest Britons ever to defect to Hollywood.Madeline Kahn, too, liberally sprinkles commentaries, both vocal and facial, into any and all situations, the sheer spontaneity of which make one wonder whether or not they're actually in the script. The line in the show which had me laughing the hardest, anyway, was not really a line at all, but rather a high-pitched, yodeling scream from Mrs. White. (You'll know it when you hear it.) And her operatic descant over the guests' chorus of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" had me rolling in the aisle.Another facet of the movie, disguised by the humor, but every bit as important to one's enjoyment of the film, is the maze of leads, lies, and leaps of logic which ultimately culminates in not one, but three possible answers as to "Whodunnit." And here's the amazing part: each of the three endings (I checked) stands up to close scrutiny of the clues provided earlier in the film. From the time Wadsworth verifies Yvette's mysterious "instructions" until the last pull of the trigger, each minute detail is essential to the plot. A word of warning to the dedicated popcorn-munching detective: the guests at this dinner party are all experts at using comedy to distract. While you're busy laughing at Miss Scarlet in the ballroom, a desperate dinner guest wielding a monkey wrench is hurrying through the secret passage to the study, trying to silence that unfortunate motorist before he says too much....The film isn't perfect-the physical humor becomes strained at times, and there are a very few lines whose comedic and textual value I question. Still, the film bears enough good comedy and old-fashioned mystery, garnished with a sound track that adds just the right spice to the flavor of both humor and suspense, to earn a "five-star comedy" rating from me."
One of the funniest movies you've probaly never seen
Matthew Edmundson | Winter Haven, Florida United States | 04/26/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Almost everybody has played the game Clue. We all have heard of Mr.Green, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlett, Col.Mustard, Mrs.White, and Mrs.Peacock. Now we actually get to see the game on screen. The story to Clue is a great mystery. Six individuals Mr.Green(McKean), Mrs.Peacock(Brannen),Col.Mustard(Mull),Mrs.White(Kahn), Miss Scarlet(Warren), and Pro. Plum(Lloyd) have all received invitations to a mysterious house. They all have been invited to dinner and have no idea while they are there. When they reach the house they discover that the master is not there, but his butler Wadsworth(Curry) and Maid Yvette(Camp) are the only poeple there. The guests are informed that they are there by the invitation of Mr.Boddy. Mr.Boddy is blackmailing them all and thats the only thing in common the six people have. Then people start dying in the home and now it's up to the whole group to see who is doing it and to see if they can get out alive. This really was a great cast. It had a bunch of big stars from that day. All have pretty good performances in there roles as the character from the game.Tim Curry gives the best performance of the movie. Curry is a very talented actor. He's been quite underrated in Hollywood. He really takes the role as Wadsworth the Butler and runs with it. He is such a weasal and nobody plays a character like Curry can.The other actors in the movie really do give good performances in the movie.The movie is quite funny and has a bunch of slapstick in it. Mull as Col.Mustard is the funniest out of the six characters because he sets himself up to be made fun of so well. The dialogue is also quite funny and when the characters start ranting it gets quite good. John Landis(Blues Brother, Animal House) wrote the story with Johnathan Lynn writing the screenplay. They've combined for a fantastic written movie.It's a great mystery and the three different endings are fun. You get all three of them on the DVD and all are enjoyable though some are better than others. You really are kept quite clueless as to who has killed who and that again is credited to the writing skills of Landis and Lynn.Thi is a funny movie. If you like to play Clue the game then you will definetly enjoy this movie. If you like slapstick comedies you will definetly enjoy the movie as well. This is a funny movie that can be watched by the whole family. So go get Clue and be prepared to laugh and have a good time."
"Yep, two corpses ...Everything's fine"
Zachary | No where | 06/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Okay, I know there's so many reviews for this movie already here, and so my opinion of the movie probably doesn't even need to be here. But I think just the fact that this movie has been reviewed by two hundred people as of now, almost all giving it a 5-star review, is alone a testament to how many people are impressed by this film.Clue is a Paramount Pictures' whodunit film that puts less emphasis on solving a mystery and more on non-stop laughs, gags, and one-liners. And believe me, there's more comedy packed into this hour-and-a-half than you can shake a stick at. That doesn't mean you can't try to solve the murder case yourself either.The main theme of clue is quite dark. All the familiar people from the game (Peacock, Green, Scarlet, Mustard, etc.) are invited to a dinner party at a huge mansion. There, it is not only revealed that they are all being blackmailed, but also that it's all being done by the host of the party, Mr. Boddy! Early in the movie, Mr. Boddy is murdered, but there's a problem. The act was committed with the lights turned off in the house, and thus no one knows who has done it. Throughout the course of the movie, several others die, and the guest's efforts to find out who the murderer is also becomes a fight for survival. While the movie has this dark theme, the movie takes the deaths and blackmail so lightly, that it makes you forget that you're laughing at a subject so serious.Clue takes all the one-dimensional characters from the popular board game and really fleshes them out, giving each one a distinct personality and style. The ensemble cast is one of the best I've ever seen, and each actor really owns their part. I can't imagine anyone but Tim Curry frantically explaining the murder at the end or someone other than the wonderful Madeline Kahn playing the dark black widow, Mrs. White. The rest of the cast is excellent too. They all have excellent timing; their deliverance on all their one-liners is great, and even just their facial expressions alone will have you laughing hysterically at times. Clue demands repeated viewing, because every time you see the movie you'll notice something different. While the first time you watch it, the movie may come across as being really silly, after watching it again and again, you'll pick out things that you missed. There's a seemingly endless string of gags and sight jokes throughout the movie, and I'm still amazed when I notice new things, even after I've seen it a million times. (whoops, I said I wasn't gonna say that . . . . oh well.) : )Well, to make a long story short (too late) this is an absolutely wonderful movie. It is a smart, clever comedy, sprinkled with the old-fashioned mystery element, and should be a classic by any cinema-lover's standards."