Klute

Starring: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Roy Scheider, Charles Cioffi, Dorothy Tristan, Rita Gam
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
1971

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A detective (Donald Sutherland) seeks input from a prostitute (Jane Fonda) who may have a clue that will help him solve the disappearance of a family friend.

Review:

Tim: I really enjoyed this dark, dreary look at the underbelly of New York City. The story is fairly straight forward, but that gives the film focus. Alan J. Pakula (who is a really talented director) crafts an interesting, engaging neo noir thriller that is a slow burn, but an interesting one. The film is also noteworthy for Jane Fonda winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. All around, this is a movie well worth seeking out.

I liked the very focused approach to the story- a detective works with a prostitute to find a missing man. While this makes the film a tad predictable, there's still so much there for the film to mine. Who is the missing man? What happened to him? Where is he? What's the connection with the prostitute? Obviously, the detective and the prostitute are going to fall for each other, so there's a whole new area to explore. This movie does a good job of touching on the human side of these events. It all adds up to a really interesting story that holds your attention throughout the 1 hour, 54 minute run time. This isn't a film that is focused on action- it's really a quietly thrilling film. I like the confidence in the story to not need to try to do too much, but just to tell a focused, engaging story. That's what makes this movie work. It's not that we haven't see any of this before, it's that Pakula executes on it all exceptionally well.

Jane Fonda is really good in the role. As mentioned, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress- the film's only Oscar (it was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay). She obviously did research on the role and effectively inhabited this person. Her performance was stripped down and emotional. It might not be one of those unforgettable performances, but her performance makes the movie. I can see why she won the award. Donald Sutherland is really good as well. He works effectively with Fonda. I enjoyed the interactions between the two. It was also fun seeing Roy Scheider here- I've always been a huge fan of his, and so it's always enjoyable when he shows up. He works well in a smaller supporting role. Really, though, this film is all about Fonda and Sutherland and their interactions are what makes this movie work.

The film does a pretty good job keeping us in suspense. There's a central mystery, but at a certain point, we understand the players. We might not have all the answers, but we're not completely in the dark. I liked this approach, as there was still uncertainty about how the whole story would play out. It does get a little convoluted in the late middle- I remember wondering when we'd feel a sense of progress- it stalls out in a few places. I can't say I ever felt deep connection with the characters, but I understood them and was invested in their story.

Klute is a great example of a film that manages to separate itself through strong writing, directing, and acting. It's easy to say (and you'd think it would be easy to achieve), but it's amazing how many films are unable to execute on this approach. I give Pakula great credit for crafting this interesting thriller. It's not quite a great movie- it's not memorable enough and there's not really the powerful punch the film needed. Still, it's an intelligent thriller and a film well worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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