Clue: The Review, Part 1
The mystery: Who created a great cult classic film based on a board game? The solution: director Jonathan Lynn…in Hollywood…with Clue. It sounds impossible, but it’s true! Lynn not only made a movie based on a board game but made a pretty great movie based on a board game.
Clue is a casting director’s dream. The film features an all-star comedic cast, including Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Colleen Camp. Any one of those names would be enough to get anyone invested in a comedy, and having all of them playing off of each other is a cornucopia of hilarity, as the group constantly yo-yos between eyeing each other suspiciously and snapping into conspiratorial mode whenever a stranger rings the doorbell. Many of the actors here are known for having larger-than-life characters, but in Clue they seem to be, in a strange way, more subdued individually than you would expect. The bizarreness of the overall film is greater than the zaniness of any one character, and I rather appreciate it. I can imagine an alternate version of the film where Christopher Lloyd and Madeline Kahn are battling to be the bigger personality, and I must say I much prefer the real-life version of the film.
The genre play of dark comedy mixed with murder mystery (along with the casting of Madeline Kahn) is downright Mel Brooksian, with a dash of Abbott and Costello for good measure. The humor is both silly and clever, with quick satirical one-liners interplaying with broader physical slapstick. The film is wonderful as a rewatch, with the suspects all doing wonderful subtle, but hilarious, bits of background acting and reacting. There’s always something new to notice. The funniest bits to me, however, occur when the group is acting in unison. I could watch the suspects do their Scooby Gang-esque running throughout the mansion ad infinitum; it gets funnier every time it happens. The crowning moment of the whole film, however, is Wadsworth’s thorough explanation of everything that everyone (including the killer) said and did throughout the evening, which he delivers at record pace as everyone follows him dashing from one room to the next (special props to Tim Curry, who adds a physicality to his running in this film that is so funny to be beyond description).
Wadsworth (Curry) recreating the murders for the suspects.
I can’t help but think two things when watching Clue: 1.) This goes against everything the board game stands for, and 2.) This would have made a much more entertaining board game than “Clue.” To the first point, “Clue” is a game of elimination. When a player knows what’s out on the table, they know what’s in the envelope and win. The film adaptation famously had three endings, with three different solutions as to who was the murderer. The mere knowledge of multiple endings could be enough for someone to dismiss the movie, realizing there isn’t any real fun to solving the puzzle with a definitive answer. As it happens, the three solutions have been criticized as being impossible and/or too convoluted. Luckily, for the home video release, all three versions are revealed at the end, with the first two being hypothetical solutions, and the last being the “real” ending. This was the only truly satisfying ending for the movie, with all of the suspects guilty of murder and with a couple of identity reveals that break the rules of the board game entirely. While I do love the theatrical release gimmick of seeing a different ending depending on the theater that you went to, I can imagine those that saw the first two endings were let down. They’re sensible solutions to a board game (in theory) but are nothing too special as endings to a movie.
Speaking to my second thought, I can’t help but wish that the “Clue” board game functioned more like the mystery in this movie does. I’ve always found the board game to be lacking, that merely hopping from room to room and looking at other players’ cards does not make a great game. I think a nice revamp in which, like the movie, multiple murders happen as players are trying to discover the original murderer, with the one who is the murderer in full knowledge that they are indeed the one who committed the crime, just what is needed to breathe new life into the board game. The game could also do with a dash of the film’s dark humor. I think that’s why I’m so genuinely surprised and pleased with the film Clue. It took a game that has no business being so dull and made it everything it should be.
Clue is a gem of a film. It’s fast-paced, bizarre, and clever. While it doesn’t make a lot of logical sense, the ever-evolving mystery is nonetheless intriguing. Don’t necessarily come to the film for a genuine Poirot-style mystery to solve, but if an insanely talented ensemble cast and a bunch of silly nonsense are what you’re after, you can’t get much better than this. – Bailey 🔧
