After hearing that his wife sleeps with Clay, Earl kills himself, making it look like Clay shot him. The widow doesn't like it when Clay starts sees another woman instead. Bodies start pilin... Read allAfter hearing that his wife sleeps with Clay, Earl kills himself, making it look like Clay shot him. The widow doesn't like it when Clay starts sees another woman instead. Bodies start piling up.After hearing that his wife sleeps with Clay, Earl kills himself, making it look like Clay shot him. The widow doesn't like it when Clay starts sees another woman instead. Bodies start piling up.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Nicole Arlyn
- Gloria
- (as Nikki Arlyn)
Kari White
- Dolores
- (as Kari Peterson)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAgent Dale Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) spends the night in a hotel room with three films taken from the crime scene she visited that day. The films are Alien (1979), True Romance (1993) and Swingers (1996). "Alien" was directed by this film's Producer Ridley Scott, "True Romance" was directed by Tony Scott, also a Producer on this film and Ridley Scott's brother, and "Swingers" starred this film's lead actor, Vince Vaughn.
- GoofsThe patch's on Sheriff Mooney's and his deputy's uniforms read "Mercer County Sheriff's Dept". But when Mooney is driving a sheriff's dept SUV, the decal on the door reads "Davis County Sheriff".
- Quotes
Sheriff Mooney: Promise me something there, will you?
Clay Bidwell: What's that?
Sheriff Mooney: Promise you'll stop finding dead people.
- Crazy creditsAt the end of the closing credits Lester Long says "You gotta good sense of humor, I like that" and does his bizarre laugh.
- Alternate versionsDutch video version oddly has all expletives erased or edited. Shot of naked corpse floating in water has been censored.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Ronin/Pecker/Clay Pigeons/Urban Legend/Shadrach (1998)
Featured review
One of the year's most entertaining and original movies. *** out of ****
"Clay Pigeons" is a black comedy centering on a young man named Clay Birdwell, who works as a Montana gas station attendant. He is having an affair with his best friend's wife, Amanda. His best friend, Earl, knows about this, however. Thus he kills himself one day, and cleverly frames Clay for the murder. Clay, feeling both afraid and awkward, covers this incident up by making the death look like a suicide. The police fall for it and Clay puts this mess behind him. This film, both written and directed by newcomer David Dobkin, is the most original movie I have seen in a long while. Think about it, we haven't had a movie this clever and blackly comic since "Fargo," possible one of the best movies I have ever scene. The characters are so unique, while they don't generate much sympathy from the audience; they still are extremely fun to watch.
The performances are another great element in the movie. Vince Vaughn portrays Lester Long like he did in the recent "Psycho" remake. His style, giggle, attitude, and presence are all priceless. Joaquin Phoenix takes us though a funny joyride as he gets into more and more trouble as Clay. Let's not forget Georgina Cates, as the slutty wife of Earl. She plays cocky character who everyone loves to hate. The only character I could find is Janeane Garofalo's, who was surly inspired by Frances MacDormand from "Fargo."
The film's soundtrack is of the best there is, with songs that not only further the character's motives, but are also catchy and even describe some of the movie's plot at times. I have owned the soundtrack even before I saw the movie, which is quite unusual. But once I heard the theme song to "Clay Pigeons": "The Ballad of Lester Long," I had to get it.
I do think that this movie could have been better, however. If it had left a few more elements to the imagination, like the guilt or innocence of Clay Birdwell, and the explicit murder and sex scenes, maybe the viewer would be l bit more involved into the story. A little less plot and a little fewer characters would have also been nice.
But those are but minor complaints. I was looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time, and I was not that disappointed. "Clay Pigeons" is one of the years most entertaining and original films.
The performances are another great element in the movie. Vince Vaughn portrays Lester Long like he did in the recent "Psycho" remake. His style, giggle, attitude, and presence are all priceless. Joaquin Phoenix takes us though a funny joyride as he gets into more and more trouble as Clay. Let's not forget Georgina Cates, as the slutty wife of Earl. She plays cocky character who everyone loves to hate. The only character I could find is Janeane Garofalo's, who was surly inspired by Frances MacDormand from "Fargo."
The film's soundtrack is of the best there is, with songs that not only further the character's motives, but are also catchy and even describe some of the movie's plot at times. I have owned the soundtrack even before I saw the movie, which is quite unusual. But once I heard the theme song to "Clay Pigeons": "The Ballad of Lester Long," I had to get it.
I do think that this movie could have been better, however. If it had left a few more elements to the imagination, like the guilt or innocence of Clay Birdwell, and the explicit murder and sex scenes, maybe the viewer would be l bit more involved into the story. A little less plot and a little fewer characters would have also been nice.
But those are but minor complaints. I was looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time, and I was not that disappointed. "Clay Pigeons" is one of the years most entertaining and original films.
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- Movie-12
- Feb 24, 1999
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- In Too Deep
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $8,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,794,086
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $167,364
- Sep 27, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $1,794,086
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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