Shakes The Clown (1991)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Cast: Julie Brown, Bob Goldthwait
Extras: Theatrical Trailers, Talent Files, Production Notes
Rating:

’Shakes The Clown’ is an interesting comedy by multi-talent Bobcat Goldthwait who has long left his mark in the comedy genre. However, it has been long since he left such a strong impression. Writing, directing and starring in this hilarious film from 1991, he explores the past time of clowns, once the lights go out and the glamour dims. The people underneath the funny make-up have lives of their own and ’Shakes The Clown’ takes a good look at a bunch of wickedly eccentric clowns after hours.

Columbia TriStar Home Video presents Goldthwait’s overlooked masterpiece in an superb anamorphic transfer in a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The transfer is highly detailed for the most part and maintains every bit of information from the very clean source print. Without defects or blemishes, the transfer has very good black level that gives the image depth and dimensionality, while highlights are always well-balanced. Color delineation is very good, rendering hues and shades strongly but without over-saturation. The compression on this DVD is first rate, without any signs of pixelation, chroma noise or other compression artifacts.

The disc features an audio track in Dolby Surround that is very restrained. Although naturally sounding with a good frequency response, the track uses the surround channels only to throw in some early reflections from the rear to create a bigger ’room’. Sound effects are nicely separated left and right and dialogues are always centered in the middle, making this a very traditional and simple mix. Without an additional bass extension, the audio always sounds a bit weak, which is especially noticeable during active scenes where the track is lacking serious punch.

’Shakes The Clown’ is a truly enjoyable, fun-filled romp that features a bunch of recognized comic actors. Well written, well acted and hilariously told the story will keep you giggling away with its outrageous humor. Columbia serves up another great DVD here, which only adds to the film’s appeal.