Special Coverage The Photo IssueThe Must List2008 Fall TV2008 Fall Movies2008 Fall Music
  • --
  • D

Credits

Rated: R; Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama; With: Janeane Garofalo, Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn
D
By Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum is a film critic for EW

In Clay Pigeons, women are full-lipped sexual predators who get knocked off gruesomely, preferably during sex. Men are smooth-talking cowboys bound to their buddies with much stronger emotional ropes than to the cuties they bed and bash. The more vicious the killer, the more charm he exudes. (Motive? Postmodern killers don't need no stinkin' motives.) And every scene is powered by a cut from a soundtrack available in a CD bin near you. In other words, it's young-Hollywood-driven business as usual in this derivative, nasty, and ultimately empty drama.

Commercial director David Dobkin, in his feature debut, invokes In Cold Blood, Hemingway, and Edward Hopper in the course of explicating his ''daylight noir'' intentions. But that's just so much heifer dust. First-time screenwriter Matt Healy's pointless story about a small-town Montana gas jockey (Joaquin Phoenix, a riveting actor made to fumble), his best friend's wife (Georgina Cates), a dangerously friendly stranger (Vince Vaughn), and a wise-gal FBI agent (Janeane Garofalo) is worthwhile for one reason: the unceasingly interesting Garofalo. Once again, she's the real McCoy in a phony premise, and she puts girl-fearing cowboys to shame. D


Sign up for EW.com's The 25 newsletter!

Stay in the know and get EW.com's top 5 stories, 5 days a week (sent weekday afternoons).
Posted Oct 02, 1998
 

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.
--
Change/Edit your grade
characters remaining