Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick:
1985’s Clue was simultaneously ahead of and behind its time. On the one hand, writer-director Jonathan Lynn crafted a slamming-door farce and locked room mystery at a time when both those formats were long past their sell-by date, creating a comedy of witticisms and verbal one-upmanship at a time when the dominant comedic styling was Police Academy pratfalls.
But Clue also came out four years before Tim Burton’s Batman broke every conceivable record and launched a fire-sale on all vaguely-familiar intellectual properties in the hopes that one would catch on as virulently as the Caped Crusader bopping Jack Nicholson to the sounds of Prince. A few decades later, that fire-sale still hasn’t stopped. But in 1985, creating a feature film around a board game was seen as the hackiest of hack moves, especially given the additional gimmick added to the film: Three separate endings, with three completely different final reveals, were shot, the idea being that you had to see the film multiple times to get each ending and have a complete experience.
It turned out that audiences weren’t enthusiastic about sitting through the film once, never mind three times, and so Clue flopped. But a funny thing happened in syndication: When Clue aired on TV, all three endings were included (this time presented as three possible solutions, with “Ending C” promoted as the ‘real’ ending) and steadily Clue earned a cult following as a whip-smart mystery parody that also functioned as a terrific mystery in its own right.
Part of the film’s growing appeal was its stacked ensemble of comedic heavy-hitters. Starring Martin Mull (Colonel Mustard), Lesley Ann Warren (Ms. Scarlet), Michael McKean (Mr. Green), Eileen Brennan (Mrs. Peacock), Christopher Lloyd (Professor Peacock), the inimitable Madeline Kahn (Mrs. White), and with Tim Curry as the film’s de facto lead Wadsworth the Butler, Clue has one of the deepest benches in its era.
But does the film hold up as anything more than a cash-in on a familiar brand? And which ending really is the best? We assembled our team, and now it’s time to solve Clue. — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
What if the director of gory martial arts classic Riki-Oh teamed up with Chow Yun Fat to make an insane Indiana Jones style archaeological adventure, but with extra emphasis on the scary mysticism, body horror, and monsters? Wonder no more, for this movie exists, ghoulish Chinese vampires and all. The Seventh Curse is streaming on Amazon Prime! — Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
Austin Wilden:
Clue feels like the type of movie they would’ve been saying “They don’t make them like that anymore” about even when it came out in 1985. Watching it to contribute to Two Cents was my first time seeing Clue in its entirety, though I’d seen some of the more iconic bits referenced and gifed online like “Flames on the side of my face” and “To make a long story short…” “Too late!”
I found myself delighted at the back and forth in the dialogue (“You lure in men like a spider with flies.”/ “Men’s flies are where they’re most vulnerable.”) The chaotic actions of the characters seem designed to make sure the audience loses track of who’s where so the multiple endings can work to full effect. I find myself wishing the existence of those endings wasn’t one of the more widely spread bits of trivia about Clue. The first “That’s how it could have happened” would’ve been quite the gag to be caught by off guard, especially as Endings B and C up the ante of the movie’s absurdist humor.
Clue often feels like a movie out of time and it goes without saying that the MVP is the one and only Tim Curry. Though there are certainly dated elements, like Mister Green’s final line in Ending C, which left me groaning rather than laughing. The one regret I have about watching this movie was that I did it alone, since this seems like a movie best enjoyed in the same way as a good board game, in the company of friends. (@WC_Wit)
Chris Chipman:
My history with Clue is interesting. I saw it for the very first time on Comedy Central back when it shared the same channel with VH1. VH1 during the day, Comedy Central at night. VH1 had the Rocky Horror Picture Show on one day, Comedy Central had Clue.
Being quite young and not really processing the full implications of either movie, the two kind of compiled into a single film in my head. So the singing telegram death happened to Magenta and Tim Curry’s Butler later showed up in drag in my head. Part of me wants to make a master cut of both films together some day… maybe someone already has?
Anyway, weird amalgamations aside, Clue is just a classic movie. Perfect use of a cast at the top of their game. The best possible movie you could ever make out of a board game. And the multiple endings are all such a blast! (@TheChippa)
Brendan Agnew (The Norman Nerd):
The are few films that I find as deliriously enjoyable to revisit as Clue. Not because it’s one of the great flawless clockwork comedies — it’s agreeable shaggy structure, especially in its first act, is actually something I appreciate in a relaxed sort of way. But what Clue offers that is all but unmatched in the genre is a bevy of insanely talented comedians given a rich premise, a clever script, and then a *lot* of room to absolutely cut loose and devour entire wings of the mansion’s scenery.
It’d be easy to anoint an MVP to this film by immediately pointing to Tim Curry (because the movie gives him the whodunit comedy equivalent of the Spirit Bomb) or Madeline Kahn (because…well, have you seen her in this, DAMN), but just as Hill House is a treasure trove of secret rooms and hidden passages, the edge of every frame holds treats for repeat viewings as every single member of the cast is playing with the unbridled passion of a sugared-up preschooler in a toy store.
I can’t believe this movie exists and it’s even more unbelievable that it works at all, but that it’s a magic trick that seems all but immune to repetition? That’d be unfair if it weren’t also so freaking fun.
Also, the final (and “real”) ending is the best ending. Obviously. (@BLCAgnew)
The Team
Clue is a straight up classic. It’s got a star studded comedy cast, hardcore punk legend Lee Ving as Mr. Boddy, and a hilarious multiple ending shtick that caps off the film with flair. With a Scooby Doo-like sensibility, this comedy/mystery mashup remains the best film adaptation of a beloved game ever put to celluloid.
Perhaps the most high praise here is that this may be be Tim Curry’s most fun role in his storied career. Of course, it’s up for debate, but it’s definitely one of them.
In short, having a great excuse to rewatch Clue for the umpteenth time was a real pleasure and I hope as many of you joined in this rewatch as humanly possible. If you haven’t seen it, go remedy that now!(@thepaintedman)
Agatha Christie once described the plotting of her mysteries, particularly the Hercule Poirot (like Murder on the Orient Express) as being, essentially, arbitrary. She would write the stories in such a way that any of the cast could have been the guilty one, and then picked whichever culprit felt like the right fit for that story. There’s always been that layer of arbitrary choice in any mystery story, regardless of the author writing it or the detective solving it. The joy is in the clues, in the way the plot gets more and more convoluted the more information (and murders) get piled up.
That’s why Clue, in this format with all three endings, is such a work of genius. It lays bare those arbitrary mechanisms and invites you to instead enjoy the sublime chaos of a bunch of deeply stupid people trying to untangle a knot that they themselves have tied. None of the three endings make ‘sense’ in basic logistical terms (not unless these people have access to teleportation) but together the three endings work as grand crescendos of comedy and character. The fact that they don’t really ‘work’ is part of the charm. What makes it sing is the cast, especially Tim Curry, who all go full-gusto at the most ridiculous material the movie has to offer. Curry ends up acting as a kind of deranged emcee, dragging the film and the characters within it through every berserk plot twist the filmmakers can think of. It’s a wild ride, and Clue ends up being its own wonderfully deranged animal even as it exists happily within the genres it has so gleefully devoured. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
With its mysterious setting, ensemble cast of memorable character actors, and a script full of witty dialogue, Clue sets the game pieces on the board for a fun time at the movies. The mysterious premise and characters give the film its better half — the “board game” premise seems to translate to a film pretty well, which seems surprising but makes sense considering the game is based on murder mystery tropes (not unlike how Rampage is a monster movie based on the game, in turn a parody of monster movies).
For roughly the first half, I was on board. But as it film progressed, I found my initial interest waning a bit, particularly as the stupidity of these characters causes further harm. I looked forward to the “three endings” gimmick as a fun novelty, but instead it only served to emphasize the lack of investment I had in any possible conclusion — I was tiring of these prattling, self-centered idiots (in that sense, I guess the final “true” ending was the most satisfying). As Brendan points out, that’s kind of the point, but I just found the frenzied whipping back and forth of the finale as mostly tedious rather than exciting or funny. (Austin Vashaw)
Next week’s pick: