25 Favorite Films: Clue (1985)

With today’s age of filmmaking we are basically seeing ANYTHING turn into a film. Back in the day when it was only novels or plays we are now seeing the likes of video games, comic books, and now board games are in the mix. Movies like Battleship and Ouija come to mind which we all know how that turned out: i.e. not well. It seems pretty laughable that Hollywood has resorted to board games and ultimately it seems like we have finally started to run out of ideas. I bet though many people do not realize Hollywood has gotten into the world of board games before way back in the year 1985. What results is a madcap comedy that winds up being one of the best comedies ever made.

Yes, Clue is basically a rough adaptation of the hit board game. But what makes it different from today’s attempt at adaptation is we actually see care put into the script. Specifically, Jonathan Lynn (who is/was a major British comedic genius with various BBC hits, plays, and future projects like My Cousin Vinny) knew how to make a dinner party, murder mystery but also a madcap comedy. Even more specifically he got a cast that basically cakewalks into delivering pitch perfect material. Seriously, I still find Clue to have the best cast to be put into a comedy.

Look at this cast: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean. Not a bad apple in the bunch. Each one of these brings a ton of depth and hilarious beats to each character. Whether it is Michael McKean constantly saying ‘I didn’t do it!’, to Martin Mull’s childlike stupidity, to Madeline Kahn’s….Well see below:

This was one of the last, major works Kahn would do before working in theater and man does this movie show how incredibly gifted she was as a comedian. Not only with this infamous line reading but in general she plays such an intense woman and she does get a good chunk of the best lines in the film. In fact there are a ton of quotable in this film that to this still I find myself thinking about. Whenever I get into an argument and it gets heated I always think of this:

Come to think of it: I’ve seen this movie so many times and yet it never gets old. The jokes are the same, the scenes are in the same place, and even the multiple endings stay the same. But no matter how many times I watch Clue I laugh every time I watch it. The energy is high and it is clear everyone is having a ball making this film. It is interesting how this is the only successful attempt at making a movie out of a board game. You would think a highly entertaining film like this would be the beginning of countless adaptations. i guess we were fine, for a few decades, with trying to be original than making a Candyland  feature. Honestly, that’s a better move.