RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Shakes the Clown
Shakes the Clown

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Shakes the Clown (1992)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
37 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:19

Fresh:7

Rotten:12

Average Rating:4.3/10

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Shakes the Clown (Goldthwait, who also wrote and directed) drinks too much, is late to birthday parties and his girlfriend calls it quits when he misses her big bowling tournament. But things get... Shakes the Clown (Goldthwait, who also wrote and directed) drinks too much, is late to birthday parties and his girlfriend calls it quits when he misses her big bowling tournament. But things get worse when the clown dispatcher is found dead and Shakes becomes the prime suspect. He's on the run to prove his innocence, save the woman he loves from an evil clown and come to terms with the realization that he's a serious boozer. Billed as "The CITIZEN KANE of alcoholic clown movies," SHAKES also features a then unknown Sandler in a bit part as well as a scene-stealing, foulmouthed turn from Page, better know as Aunt Esther of TV's "Sanford and Son." [More]

Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Bruce Baum, Blake Clark

Starring: Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Bruce Baum, Blake Clark, Paul Dooley, Jack Gallagher, Tim Kazurinsky, Sydney Lassick, Joel Murray, LaWanda Page, Adam Sandler

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
Screenwriter: Bobcat Goldthwait

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Apr 4, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Shakes the Clown

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A bizarre comedy that stretches its central gimmick thinner than watered-down carnival taffy.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
05/22/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Basically a redneck drive-in movie in style and delivery.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/22/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Extra credit for beating up mimes!

comment Comment
03/15/08
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Great idea for a tasteless short, but not enough for a feature.

comment Comment
01/12/06
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/28/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/04/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
11/04/04
Randy Shulman
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

No review available.

comment Comment
08/18/03
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

The tagline is true - and so are the rumors.

comment Comment
07/04/03
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
N/R

Shakes the Clown has been photographed as poorly as it was conceived.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

When it works, it's uniquely funny. When it doesn't, it's uniquely bad.

comment Comment
04/21/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Sporadically, but hilariously, funny. Goldthwait is great as the alcoholic, mime-hatin' clown.

comment Comment
03/21/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

A must-see for clown haters.

comment Comment
02/13/03
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Shake this one back into the film can and let it rot there.

comment Comment
12/17/02
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
10/03/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

It's weird, but it's not really funny.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
07/28/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

Shakes the Clown is sick but whether it's a joke is a matter of taste. And this film is about as tasteless as they come.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

A wonderfully weird two hours.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

The movie plays like a series of scene outlines -- ideas for how the movie should progress -- that needed more writing and revision before the actors were called in.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
all

Latest News for Shakes the Clown

June 19, 2008: Robin Williams, Bobcat Goldthwait Team Up for World's Best Dad Opens in new window
Robin Williams has agreed to star in World's Best Dad, a comedy written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
40% 40% Surrogates
83% 83% Whip It
29% 29% Gamer
97% 97% The Hurt Locker
81% 81% Michael Jackson's This…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
87% 87% A Serious Man
37% 37% The Time Traveler's Wife
78% 78% Bronson
11% 11% The Stepfather

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Runaways Pictures

Runaways Pictures

Run away with Kristen and Dakota!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tom Cruise Accepts Another Mission: Impossible Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
28
  • Chris Nolan on Board for Dark Knight Sequel -- and Superman Reboot? Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
255
  • Tim Robbins Joins Green Lantern Source: Hollywood Reporter
58
  • Fox Moves Forward with 24 Movie Source: HitFix
8
  • Bill Murray Talks Ghostbusters III Source: Sunday Mail [UK]
56
  • Captain America News, News, and More News Source: Collider.com
20
  • Taylor Lautner Is Stretch Armstrong Source: MTV
78
  • Weekly Ketchup: Sci-Fi at the Oscars, Raimi eyes The Shadow
288
  • Percy Jackson Star (Briefly) Rumored for Spider-Man Reboot Source: Hollywood Reporter
35
  • Five Facts About Alice in Wonderland
140
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Jeff Bridges' Best Movies
114
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Finally Toppled by Dear John
104
  • Weekly Ketchup: Sci-Fi at the Oscars, Raimi eyes The Shadow
96
  • Five Facts About Alice in Wonderland
70
  • Five Favorite Films With Precious' Gabby Sidibe
35
  • Friday Harvest: The Last Airbender, The A-Team, and more!
27
  • Critics Consensus: From Paris With Love Is Not Bon
22
  • Total Recall: Anthony Hopkins' Best Movies
18
  • Five Favourite Films with Anika Noni Rose
17
  • Awards Tour: Pixar and Disney Rule The Annies
15
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Oscar Nominee Gabby Sidibe Talks Precious
20
  • One Man's Quest To Find The Worst Movie Ever
7
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
77
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
22
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
3
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
13
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Shakes the Clown at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Celebrity Yearbook Photos
Celebrity Yearbook Photos External Link

Check out PopEater's collection of childhood photos of celebs, from Tom Cruise to Kim Kardashian.

Who Will Win the Oscars?
Who Will Win the Oscars? External Link

TIME's Richard Corliss pores over the Oscar noms for the major awards and offers his take on who will win.

Oscar Fever = Terminal Illness?
Oscar Fever = Terminal Illness? External Link

For a different take, the AV Club delves into why awards season is terrible.

Who's the Razziest?
Who's the Razziest? External Link

Moviefone has put together a list of the actors with the most Razzie noms ever.

Mass Effect Movie?
Mass Effect Movie? External Link

Hollywood.com makes a case for a big screen adaptation of popular game Mass Effect.

Promos
Get the Flixster App Now!
Get the Flixster App Now! External Link

Download it from iTunes and get Tomatometer scores straight to your iPhone!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2010, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.