Klute

Rating:
Summary: klute begat blade runner
Review: "Klute" is far above average for the era... evocative music is used with excellent editing to produce what is still a rarity today: a suspenseful, realistic move with characters an audience cares about. Alan Pakula's spare technique is juxtaposed with rich sets and costumes to set a creepy mood, combining beautifully to give the viewer a gradually increasing chill which culminates in a harrowing climax. Certainly one can see the influence "Klute" in such diverse films as "Blade Runner" (particularly in one scene where Bree rides an elevator to the top floor of a dress factory) and "The Blair Witch Project" which relied on similarly subtle hints to freak out the viewer). Add to the mix superb performances by Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland and you have yourself one hell of a film. And something to think about in the bargain.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Suspenseful Thriller
Review: "Klute" is a very suspenseful film that keeps you guessing till the very end. Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland's performaces are both equally fantastic. Pakula's direction is top-notch and adds real intense atmosphere to the relentless suspense. "Klute" is defintely on of those 70s gems!

Rating:
Summary: klute begat blade runner
Review: "Klute" is far above average for the era... evocative music is used with excellent editing to produce what is still a rarity today: a suspenseful, realistic move with characters an audience cares about. Alan Pakula's spare technique is juxtaposed with rich sets and costumes to set a creepy mood, combining beautifully to give the viewer a gradually increasing chill which culminates in a harrowing climax. Certainly one can see the influence "Klute" in such diverse films as "Blade Runner" (particularly in one scene where Bree rides an elevator to the top floor of a dress factory) and "The Blair Witch Project" which relied on similarly subtle hints to freak out the viewer). Add to the mix superb performances by Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland and you have yourself one hell of a film. And something to think about in the bargain.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific!!
Review: A CHILLING CHARACTER STUDY THAT GOES RIGHT UP THERE WITH "THE CONVERSATION". SUTHERLAND AND FONDA HAVE GREAT CHEMISTRY, AND PAKULA'S DIRECTION IS SECOND TO NONE. A FINE THRILLER!

Rating:
Summary: Dear Warner Bros.: Please issue this on DVD!
Review: All sorts of junk comes out on DVD each week, yet an amazing film such as this one remains unavailable. Jane Fonda's performance as Bree Daniels is downright hypnotic; it should be required viewing for anyone who wants to act. Donald Sutherland has a far less showy role, but he's quite effective as the moral center of the film. The atmosphere conjured up by director Alan Pakula is thoroughly chilling, yet more than a little arousing as well (who wouldn't want to spend a couple of hours in that wild hippie disco Bree visits?). In a time when so many thrillers have no sense of mood or style, it's refreshing to revisit a classic. And yes, it does need to be seen in widescreen: I've looked it both versions, and the letterboxing is essential for preserving Pakula's scene composition. Another good reason for a DVD release!

Rating:
Summary: Superb Thriller and Character Study
Review: From the opening frame to the closing shot, "Klute" is a compelling, adult thriller and character study. It seems to get better with every viewing. When Pennsylvania business executive and family man Tom Grunemann goes missing, friend and detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) agrees to take on the case. His only clue is prostitute Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) in New York who was associated with a prostitute Grunemann had known and who is at the brunt of harassment calls possibly from Grunemann. As Klute watches Bree, the killer is watching. Although Bree is struggling to leave "the life" (aspiring to act), she is simultaneously drawn to the money, autonomy and emotional control it provides. Klute is brought deeper into Bree's world of prostitution, paranoia and drugs and unexpectedly he penetrates her emotional walls.

"Klute" is definitely Jane Fonda's showcase and she is fantastic, netting the Oscar that year against the odds. This may have been her "breakout" role at a time when she was notoriously unpopular because of her involvement in Hanoi, but she has turned in numerous fine performances over the years in films ranging from "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" to "On Golden Pond." As Bree Daniels, she has a complex character who, as she attests, had some college, and who is vulnerable yet acerbic, impenetrable yet exposed. Whether speaking with her therapist, walking jauntily down the street or turning a trick, Bree as embodied by Fonda is fascinating to watch.

Some mention that the "thriller part" is weak because you know the identity of the killer. I would disagree. Knowing the identity of the killer is part of the suspense. In this claustrophobic world of shadowy stalkers and anonymity, it's like knowing the bomb is under the table, as Hitchcock once said. The claustrophobia and isolation also are deeply reflective of both New York and the character of Bree Daniels, revealing the irony of her "freedom." Surveillance tapes also figure largely in this film and were a big thing in the 70's. They would also figure largely in Watergate.

Aside from Fonda and Sutherland, the supporting players (including Roy Scheider and Jean Stapleton) perfectly embody their roles and add to the authenticity, and there is also a great tingly soundtrack by Michael Small. It's one of the finest films to come out of the 70's. I also get a kick out of seeing Fonda reading "Linda Goodman's Sun Signs" which was a rage in the 70's. Let it all hang out, baby!


Rating:
Summary: Let's hope they never re-make it
Review: Having over the years acquired a distinct aversion to both Jane Fonda (who must have taught Susan Sarandon everything she knows about limousine-liberalism) and Alan J. Pakula (whose "The Pelican Brief" was so boring that it almost rendered me comatose), my wife had to twist my arm to get me to sit down to this movie. I'm glad she did. While it has little to offer as a thriller (for one thing, they make it pretty clear who the bad guy is early on), it's a knock-out character study. I always assumed that Fonda got the Oscar for this because of the Academy's well-documented predilection for rewarding actresses who play prostitutes (you have a better explanation for Mira Sorvino?) but she really gives an unforgettably tough and believable performance here. (Believable as a human being, I should say. There can't have been a sex-worker so meticulous about her "craft" in the entire history of the world's oldest profession.) And, quite predictably, Donald Sutherland is awesome - creating a compelling performance practically out of thin air. (His character is very underwritten and doesn't have much dialogue.) Even Pakula is in fine form, effectively adapting the alienated visual style of Antonioni that was au courant at the time to the purposes of commercial film-making. Not quite a classic, I suppose, but enduringly good.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous Jane
Review: I first saw Jane Fonda in Cat Ballou and fell in love with her. So i had to see her terrific performance(so i was told)in Klute. Was I let down? No way. This is drama at the top of the class. Very interesting story. Intense and brilliant portrayal of a highclass call girl. It's a real life thriller with anyone who watches this will get emotional as Jane Fonda acts her heart out with a special mention to Donald Southerland as soft place for our leading actress to fall. Good stuff.

Rating:
Summary: They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore
Review: I waited nearly 30 years to see Klute the right way, with my attention undiverted by calamitous circumstances as it was when I tried to see it when it was new. Did it survive my long-held belief that I had mostly missed a sexy, well-done film? By all means. Is it dated? Well, someone says that a dishwasher costs $200 and there isn't a cell phone in sight. If anything dates it, it is the quality and psychological depth which is rare in a commercial film these days. The writing, direction and acting are superb. The camera angles are aesthetic. The violence and nudity are more felt than shown. There is an honest sexuality about it that just isn't available in today's releases. This is one of those movies that turns you into one of those people who says, "They don't make things like they used to."

Rating:
Summary: If you think Jane Fonda Can't Act.....
Review: I've met a lot of people who don't think Jane Fonda can act. This is one of the Fonda films I tell them to watch upon hearing this, followed closely by "Coming Home" and "Julia." Frankly, upon seeing these films, I thought she had more talent than Dad Henry or brother Peter or niece Bridget (the dna for acting ability must be very strong in this family). Fonda plays Bree Daniels, a prostitute in 1970s New York City, and you see every gritty detail of her handling her profession. Making her life more dangerous is that she is threatened by a stalker/serial murderer (this villain role was not overdone at the time this film was made in the early '70s). This film does not glamourize prostitution which so many later films have attempted to do. One thing you will notice right away is how distinctive her voice is in this film and I've come to notice that most of the great actresses have these fabulous screen voices. The late Alan J. Pakula directed the film. He was an extremely talented writer-director-producer whose work I've missed since his passing. Donald Sutherland is a detective who comes into the stalking case and he does a very solid job throughout including kindling some romantic interest with the Fonda character (they did have a real life affair during the making of the film so the chemistry between them really works). However, it is Fonda who dominates the film from start to finish since this is Bree Daniels's story.