CLAY PIGEONS

Sculpture of a Serial Killer
Guest Review by Kelly Cutler

Clay Pigeons, a dark comedy/ thriller co-produced by Ridley Scott of Blade Runner and Alien follows Clay Bidwell (played with sincerity by Joaquin Phoenix), and his newfound friendship with Lester Long, a new cowboy in the neighborhood (and a strong performance by Vince Vaughn). The femme (not so) fatale Amanda is not your typical on-screen beauty, but more of a chain smoking, erotic study in the obscure (seductively played by Georgina Cates). The relationship between Clay and Lester takes the pair through many an adventure in the rustic Montana landscape, including a bizarre fishing trip, several visits to the local watering hole, and more than a couple of dead bodies along the way.

Janeane Garofalo enters the scene as a wise-ass FBI agent sent into town from the big city to solve this small town mystery. Accompanying her is her sidekick, Phil Morris in a brief cameo by the latte lawyer from recent Seinfeld notoriety. The two agents comb the county looking for clues, finding only more victims. Unfortunately for Clay, all fingers seem to point at him, although his longtime friend the Sheriff (Scott Wilson), defends Clay's honor the best he can. The quirky character of Lester Long seems to guide us through this film, although we never can completely trust him. His hysterical, borderline maniacal laugh is his most memorable trait, and possibly good practice for Vaughn's upcoming role of Norman Bates in the remake of Psycho. In any event, Vaughn definitely strays away from his "Pretty Boy" routine in this medium-to-low budget backwoods Montana chiller.

The open wilderness is a perfect backdrop for the unknown events that haunt Clay Bidwell, which lands Clay in a heap of trouble and even in jail. Barney, the bumbling prison guard lends some much needed comic relief along with Garofalo's sarcastic attitude. Garofalo balances the hardass cop role with a more vulnerable bar stool refugee who occasionally smokes confiscated joints alone in her hotel room, while watching Alien on video. Her sardonic cynicism is her specialty and she also lends a spark of intellectual aptitude to this otherwise small-town mentality. There is not much else to say about Clay Pigeons, for fear of giving away too much, except that it's cast of characters definitely make it worth the price of admission.

Psycho killer; bloody corpses; p-star Garofalo. 

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