Who Is Cletis Tout?

Who Is Cletis Tout? movie review: stars Christian Slater

Who Is Cletis Tout?

In the Post Pulp Fiction world, light crime movies hae to come up with something special in order to even qualify as "worth viewing" and Who Is Cletis Tout? certainly fits the bill. Smart, sassy, and funny in a wry, sophisticated way, this is a movie-fan's delight. O.K., here's the deal:

The movie opens on the un-named Critical Jim, Tim Allen, watching the end of Breakfast At Tiffany's in an old movie theater. Yes, he's obviously addicted to a great story. Cut to: Finch (Christian Slater) opening his apartment door to find a gun slap bang between his eyeballs, pointed by movie maniac hitman Critical Jim. He ties Finch to a chair and informs him that he has 90 minutes to plead his case for life...or bang, bang, Finch is dead.

What Allen wants is a story, a great story, like the old, great movies...and Finch starts to open up. I'm not going to go into the plot as it would destroy something special in this delicate, light, modern caper but I will quote the DVD blurb:

"...Who Is Cletis Tout? takes classic elementsfrom crime movies - a jewel heist, a prison break, a fugitive, a beautiful girl - turns them inside out, upside down and shakes them into a hilarious new comedy caper..."

N.B.: I could never agree that Who Is Cletis Tout? is er...hilarious...but it is genuinely feelgood in a modern way (if you can handle 7 murders, including the strangling of a hooker during glimpses of her rough-sex demise). That the plot is preposterous is all part of the fun. There's also:

one over-the-top drag queen, Ru Paul
two Abbott & Costello hitmen &
a mini-education in the processes of script-writing for movies from Critical Jim

I can easily see that some might find Who Is Cletis Tout? contrived and a little ridiculous but isn't Breakfast At Tiffany's, when you think about it?

I bought the movie on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. The title er...sucks and the cast is pretty good, Tim Allen, in particular. One gripe, though, is that Portia de Rossi (as Tess) didn't really got her antagonism + innate chemistry mix with love-interest Slater quite right during the first half of the movie but that's just a quibble because it's pretty good in the second half.

Who Is Cletis Tout? DVD

"...This is a wacky offbeat movie that is an odd mix of romance, action and intrigue...director Chris Ver Weil's...comic timing as a director is excellent in this well-paced piece..." Amazon Reviewer Lee Armstrong

"...Told in a mix of narration and flashbacks...this self-conscious genre send-up is part heist-movie and part commentary on heist-movies...there's a sweetness to the film that's diverting and will likely keep you occupied for its length. Decent watch with a group of friends..." Amazon Reviewer Shashank Tripathi

"...Tim Allen is a riot as a (finds) himself in a bizarre story which seems to have endless twists...Bumbling gangsters, idiotic chase scenes and a great cast offer a superb black comedy. Highly under rated. A must own film..." Amazon Reviewer Barry Minster

Who Is Cletis Tout? is simple, slightly elitist fare. I enjoyed it and you may, too.

Who Is Cletis Tout? poster