Rating: 
Summary: Shakes The Clown and Orgazmo = perfect double feature
Review: Neither are perfect movies. Both have many moments of pure genius. There's a place in this world for low budget, low brow, high laugh quotient, off the wall comedies. What these films have in common is a philosophy, and a vision from their prospective writer-director-stars. Niether of these films work perfectly as movies from beginning to end. They both have plenty of clunky moments in the middle, stilted dialog, and moments that will bore or piss off mainstream audiences that simply "will not get it". That not withstanding, both are works of pure comedy genius. Two movies that come to mind for similar, pure, gut level laughs are "Kingpin" and "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (also by Parker). Any movie that has a hung over Florence Henderson in her underwear and clown makeup smeared on her face, introducing Bobcat Goldthwaite to her son as "His New Dad" is okay with me. It also has Adam Sandler's finest performance as the unrecognizable Dink the Clown. This movie is great. If anyone says any different, tell them what Shakes told Tim Kazurinsky's Yuppie Dad. "I'm not your buddie, I'm not your pal, and if you talk to me again, I'm gonna twist your head into a f*ck*ng balloon animal." 'Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, Maltin! Blow it out your ..., you pansy waif!
Review: Aunt Esther from Sanford & Son talks about her ... (It's like peanut butter, to hear her tell it.) with Milton Berle. Robin Williams is a mime instructor. Some of the best one-liners you'll ever see in a movie, not to mention Adam Sandler, Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, and even Florence Freakin' Hendersen! You remember that scene from Uncle Buck where he punches the party clown in the nose? ("...get in your mouse, and get the hell out of here!") This movie takes off from there. There's even a similar scene where Tim Kazurinski (another SNL alum) isn't as bold with our hero. This ain't a thinkin' man's movie. It ain't _any_ kind of womens' movie. Have a beer, have some buddies over (stay away from the "white, powdery beef"), and have some yucks. This movie is truly a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: the nixon
Review: Shakes the Clown is a boozer who has a bowling problem. He is a pro jock who uses his clown act to support his drinking habit. This is the finest bowling movie out there and should be seen at least nine times by every avid bowler and drinker known to mankind.
Rating: 
Summary: Bobcat is Better as a Standup Comic
Review: I really like Bobcat Goldthwait, but am forced to conclude that despite some funny sequences in 'Shakes', he is a vastly more talented standup comedian (his latest CD is wonderful) than film star/director. I think that the concept behind 'Shakes' is very funny, and the film had much greater potential than it ultimately realized as a satire of the dregs of society that clowns largely are. Actually watching the film though is occasionally funny, often painful. The guest spots, particularly the Florence Henderson role, were brilliant, and some of the interpersonal encounters between Shakes and others are very entertaining; for example, when Shakes is late for the children's party near the beginning of the film, and has a few words with the father that booked the event. Overall, though, especially in the clown bar, the dialogue is just not funny, and the characters other than Shakes (especially the execrable Adam Sandler) are just so annoying that not only do we not care about them, we dislike them intensely, and worse, just don't care what happens to them. The concept plus a few occasional strokes of genius are worth two stars, but it could have been so much better with a true comic genius like Bobcat at the helm. As a footnote, I HIGHLY recommend Bobcat's newest CD, "I Don't Mean To Insult You, But You Look Like Bobcat Goldthwait." It has a hysterical account of the movie, and a debate he had on the 'Today' show with Bamboozle the (real) clown which is a true gem of standup comedy, and far better than this movie itself. Recommended only to diehard Bobcat completists.
Rating:
Summary: Crude? Yes! A hilarious comedic masterpiece? DEFINITELY!
Review: Leonard Maltin really doesn't get it! Like most critics, he doesn't want to look at the underbelly of society and see the humor there. To use the premise of "innocent clowns" that we all equate with happy childhood memories, and depict them as real cursing, alcoholic, angry, jealous, murderous,depressed, drug abusing humans is comic genius! Just the idea makes one laugh! Of course it's raw, of course it's crude, but that's the POINT! Clowns are supposed to be happy, smiling icons of goodness. These clowns are NOT! That's what makes "Shakes the Clown" work. Other than a few minutes of boring "filler" scenes, the entire movie makes you laugh, whether you feel guilty about it or not! And it doesn't even need Robin Williams, although that's a nice surprise. Any movie that opens with Florence Henderson's make-up smeared face after a one night stand with a drunken clown HAS to be great. A masterpiece for Bobcat!
Rating:
Summary: YES YES YES! The Most Underrated Comedy Ever!
Review: 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.....
Rating:
Summary: Crude? Yes! A hilarious comedic masterpiece? DEFINITELY!
Review: Leonard Maltin really doesn't get it! Like most critics, he doesn't want to look at the underbelly of society and see the humor there. To use the premise of "innocent clowns" that we all equate with happy childhood memories, and depict them as real cursing, alcoholic, angry, jealous, murderous,depressed, drug abusing humans is comic genius! Just the idea makes one laugh! Of course it's raw, of course it's crude, but that's the POINT! Clowns are supposed to be happy, smiling icons of goodness. These clowns are NOT! That's what makes "Shakes the Clown" work. Other than a few minutes of boring "filler" scenes, the entire movie makes you laugh, whether you feel guilty about it or not! And it doesn't even need Robin Williams, although that's a nice surprise. Any movie that opens with Florence Henderson's make-up smeared face after a one night stand with a drunken clown HAS to be great. A masterpiece for Bobcat!
Rating:
Summary: The 'Citizen Kane' of Drunk Clown Films
Review: I'm only writing this review to repeat that great line, which I read in a review when this film first came out (HA,HA!). If I remembered who wrote it, I would surely credit them.
It IS a great film, but much more in the 'guilty pleasure' sense. It's almost all in bad taste, although the 'message' is really pretty positive. Bobcat is at his hilarious best - a performance that makes you wonder -'why isn't he really big?' And YES! Fabulous cameos. It's incredibly funny from about the first minute on.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes, I just feel like thumpin' some mimes...
Review: ...but it isn't socially acceptable behaviour(God knows why, but he ain'telling), so when the urge comes over me, I stuff in "The Citizen Kane of drunken clown movies". Originally, the rights to "Shakes The Clown" were held by Jerry Falwell, but when his original director, Ron Howard, became unavailable due to his commitment to film "Far And Away"(big mistake there, Ope), Falwell traded the rights to Shakes to MTM Productions, and the rest is cinematic history. Here's a movie fun fact for you: It isn't the MTM Productions that subjected you to "Rhoda" and "Phyllis". This was a conglomerate(a great, big conglomerate) comprised of Mickey Hargitay, Tonya Harding, and Mike, the Border Collie from "Down & Out In Beverly Hills." Mike was the brains behind that outfit..
Rating: 
Summary: Call it a weakness....
Review: 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.
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