Klute

1971

Klute

Critics Consensus

Donald Sutherland is coolly commanding and Jane Fonda a force of nature in Klute, a cuttingly intelligent thriller that generates its most agonizing tension from its stars' repartee.

92%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 38

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 6,668
User image

Tap to review this movie

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Step 2 of 2

    How did you get your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMC (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Cinemark (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Bought somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

    You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • How did you get your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMC (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Cinemark (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal (Coming Soon)

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Bought somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

Where to watch

Klute Photos

View All Photos (4)

Movie Info

The first part of his "paranoia trilogy," Alan J. Pakula's 1971 thriller details the troubled life of a Manhattan prostitute stalked by one of her tricks. Investigating the disappearance of his friend Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli), rural Pennsylvania private eye John Klute (Donald Sutherland) follows a lead provided by Gruneman's associate Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to seek out a call girl who Gruneman knew in New York City. The call girl is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), an aspiring actress who turns tricks for the cash and to be free of emotional bondage. Klute follows Bree's every move, observing the city's decadence and her isolation, eventually contacting her about Gruneman. Bree claims not to know Gruneman, but she does reveal that she has received threats from a john. As Bree becomes involved in Klute's search and realizes that she is in danger, she reluctantly falls in love with Klute, despite her wish to remain unattached to any man. When she finally comes face to face with the killer, however, she is forced to reconsider her detached urban life.

Cast

Jane Fonda
as Bree Daniels
Donald Sutherland
as Klute
Charles Cioffi
as Cable
Roy Scheider
as Frank
Dorothy Tristan
as Arlyn
Rita Gam
as Trina
Morris Strasberg
as Goldfarb
Jean Stapleton
as Secretary
Nathan George
as Trask
Richard Russell Ramos
as Off-Broadway Stage Manager
Vivian Nathan
as Psychiatrist
Barry Snider
as Berger
Anthony Holland
as Actor's Agent
Morris Strassberg
as Mr. Goldfarb
Richard B. Shull
as Sugarman
Betty Murray
as Holly Gruneman
Fred Burrell
as Man in Chicago Hotel
Robert Milli
as Tom Gruneman
Jane White
as Janie Dale
Shirley Stoler
as Mama Reese
Margaret Linn
as Evie
Rosalind Cash
as Pat
Lee Wallace
as Nate Goldfarb
Robert Ronan
as Off-Broadway Director
Richard Ramos
as Off-Broadway Stage Manager
Antonia Rey
as Mrs. Vanek, Landlady
Mary Louise Wilson
as Ad Agency Secretary
Jan Fielding
as Psychiatrist's Secretary
Joe Silver
as Dr. Spangler
Candy Darling
Jerome Collamore
as Custodian
Tony Major
as Bill Azure
View All

Critic Reviews for Klute

All Critics (38) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (3)

View All Critic Reviews (38)

Audience Reviews for Klute

  • Nov 11, 2018
    The romance is a little unconvincing, but I like that the mystery/thriller stuff comes to a pretty believable conclusion. This is the perfect role for Fonda, allowing her to be both tough and vulnerable.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Nov 15, 2013
    Sutherland and Fonda are absolutely brilliant in Klute. It is completely engaging in terms of the plot development and there is true intelligence to the characters.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Jul 04, 2012
    The most interesting thing about this movie (viewing it in 2012) is the idea people had back then that being free of human entanglements was the only thing worth striving for. So, even being a prostitute whose best friends are either dead or strung out on H, is preferable to giving dinner parties in suburbia--which is how the script frames the issue. I liked the device of talking to the shrink as a way to get to know Bree (rhymes with free, get it?). I loved the dark moody sets. I thought Klute (Donald Sutherland) was creepier than the bad guys--he was protrayed as a huge voyeur--Jane Fonda was perfect as the messed up freedom rider/control freak who wanted to numb herself. Everyone I know who saw it when it came out said they loved it...I wonder if they would love it still?
    Bathsheba M Super Reviewer
  • Dec 23, 2010
    What probably read as a pretty uninteresting story is brought to stunning, sanguine life by Alan J. Pakula. The plot is thin and unsatisfying, and I don't think I'll ever truly get Donald Sutherland's complete disinterest in everything he gets cast in, but the center of the film is rightly Jane Fonda's high-class hooker Bree. Watching her move through this bizarrely cryptic, sinister world is captivating; she digs her talons into the psychology of this angry, intelligent woman and doesn't let go. It is a full, consummate performance, fabulous and yet oddly underseen work. She is clearly the center of Pakula's aesthetic; I found his mise-en-scene to be something of a representation of Bree herself, enigmatic and obscured but in some ways very forthcoming. The gruesome parts are easy to see, but everything else feels hidden away. If you're looking for a subtly stylish, quiet thriller with one instance of excellent character work, Klute will fit the bill. It isn't perfect, lacking dramatic impact and not fully scaffolded by all involved, but its visual clout is clear.
    Drew S Super Reviewer
See all Audience reviews

Klute Quotes

View All Quotes

Movie & TV guides