Our hero, Shakes, wakes after a LOST WEEKEND to a golden shower- and things just don't get a whole lot better as the day wears on. With the spectre of sobriety looming over him, Shakes takes refuge among the Emmet Kelly crowd at the local watering hole. The somber but not sober tone of these scenes will leave one with delirious tremens, to be sure. (Shakes isn't one of those athletic lugs who sports "six-pack abs"; no, he goes them all one better and lugs around a keg...) The always slowly creeping camera milks each and every bar scene for all it's worth. Goldthwait is a more than capable writer and director and it's surprising that SHAKES didn't catch the public's fancy the way it should've. When the bloodthirsty Binky (a ne'er-do-well who makes Krusty the Clown look like an okay guy) frames our hero, Shakes turns to his cross-dressing clown buddy and his sidekick (the latter played by Adam Sandler) to help him set things right. Will our heroes pull it off, or will things get more twisted than a balloon at a kid's birthday party...? Check out SHAKES THE CLOWN and see.

I can't speak too highly about this masterpiece of comedy. My sons, 22 & 23 years old, respectively, and I have watched this movie twenty times over the years ... there are so many great scenes ... amazing lines. It is a work of pure genius. Unfortunately, such personal and amazingly realized artistic visions like this one of Goldthwait's are rarely valued in this culture.I am glad to see there are so many people who give the movie 10 stars. Needless to say, those who dislike the film are the kind of pinheads and morons who have never hung out with such clowns (party or rodeo), mimes, or drunks. Don't even know why they bothered to post comments: I suspect hidden issues at play.Great cast, great script. The Bobcat deserves a lifetime achievement award for Shakes alone!

I really admired this movie for being a fairly apt take on alcoholism. In terms of pain and damage. They could have easily made Shakes a comical drunk, ala Arthur or some kind of wacky party animal, like Belushi in Animal House. Instead, Shakes the Clown is a seriously troubled individual. It's also realistic in that he hangs out with a bunch of alcoholics, who have just a little more control over their habit.The jokes hit at about a 15% clip, but I thought the guy who played Binky was wonderfully cast. It's not a great movie, or even a good one -- I guess I was just surprised by the honesty in its portrayal of alcoholism.And I'm not sure I needed to see Aunt Esther talk about her privates in such detail!

You can't beat this film - a true masterpiece by the usually irritating Bobcat Goldthwait. He shines in the role of his life in this movie. Great cameos and great one liners abound in Shakes The Clown. I highly recommend this movie.