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Are we non- sensient humans?
We are clay pigeons
By Nathan “Chuckles” Westerhof
Guest Writer, A & E
| Ever feel like you don’t have control of your life? Ever feel
like things just can’t get any worse? Have you ever thought that
everyone has their cross hairs targeted on you? The experiences
you have felt, along with many others, are captured for you in
a new movie titled “Clay Pigeons.” Many people have referred to
“Clay Pigeons” as a dark movie. I’m not saying they’re wrong.
They underemphasized the dark part. |
photo courtesy Gramercy Pictures |
Dark barely begins to describe the directing style of David Dobkin.
He takes dark comedy and colors it black. Of course, the film,
Dobkin’s first, is a dark comedy, meaning that some of the time
there is humor. “Clay Pigeons” can be equated to college life.
Not that all college students have an affair with their best friend’s
wife or are accused of serial murder. In fact, I’m willing to
wager that very few are.
But the downward spiral that Clay Bidwell, played by Jaoquin Phoenix,
gets sucked into is similar to one or two experiences that I have
had here at Calvin, and I’m betting you have had a couple yourself.
In the movie, Clay, a hardworking gas attendant, and his friend,
Earl, are out at the shooting range. Earl there reveals that he
has knowledge of the illicit affair Clay and his wife are involved
in.
He commits a masterfully planned suicide made to frame Clay for
his murder. And that’s where the fun begins. Clay disposes of
the body, and while doing so ends up finding another corpse. Clay
finds that he soon has no friends, except for one Lester Long,
an overly friendly type that Clay meets in a bar, and while fishing
together (it’s what new friends do, or so I’m told)more evidences
of foul play surface. Clay also tries to forget Amanda, the wife
of dead Earl, by going on a date that ends up in shambles, much
like the remainder of Clay’s life.
The FBI is called in to look into the number of bodies turning
up in the town, a scenic Mercer, Montana. Janeane Garofolo plays
a deadpan Scullyesque FBI agent who pins a number of recent murders
on Clay. The plot keeps twisting, turning until the end of the
movie, which seemed a bit of a reach. But isn’t that what movies
are all about? No, I’m not going to give the ending away.
The general feel of this film hearkens back to “Fargo,” with brilliant
scenery, dark humor, and smarter-than-they-seem police. It almost
is “Fargo,” except it isn’t. But if you like “Fargo,” “Clay Pigeons”
might just be your type of movie. If you like dark comedy, first
join a comedian cult, then take all of your new friends to see
“Clay Pigeons.” Hey, if they like it, they might not kill you.
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