Movie

Shakes the Clown

1991 · 87 min

A grimy, boozy black comedy that mixes slapstick absurdity with a surprisingly sincere look at addiction and self-destruction.

Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Adam Sandler

Tagline: Loved by children. Desired by women. Adored by bartenders everywhere.
Overview: Shakes plods about his duties as party clown, and uses all of his free time getting seriously drunk. Binky, another clown, wins the spot on a local kiddie show, which depresses Shakes even more, and his boss threatens him with unemployment if he can't get his act under control.

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Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Adam Sandler

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: darkstrength 3 of 3
satiricalstrength 2 of 3
absurdstrength 2 of 3
cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: addiction
obsession
betrayal
redemption
identity
Places: small town
workplace
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: ensemble
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language strong
Violence strong
Sex strong

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	4
Horror	2
Humour	7
Realism	4
Romance	3
Tension	5
Darkness	8
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	6

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