Clue (1985)

 ☆ ☆ ½

Clue (1985) – J. Lynn

With the success of recent whodunnits (such as Knives Out and Branagh’s Poirot films), I was tempted – or perhaps mislead – to watch this ‘80s variant, based on the well-known board game (called Cluedo outside of the US).  Well, it was a flop back then, despite its gimmick of having multiple endings with different culprits (all included at the end of the film now), and it is still a flop now.  Tim Curry, as the butler, does his able best to provide exposition to the characters as well as to us, the audience, but the script and the cast let him down. Apparently, all of the guests invited to the mansion (and instructed to use pseudonyms which are the names of the Clue characters) are being blackmailed by Mr Boddy, so when the lights go out and he’s found dead, they are all suspects.  This is after they have each been handed a box with a weapon inside (candlestick, rope, revolver, etc.). The rest of the movie will see other peripheral characters (maid, cook, cop) killed and the central characters scramble around the mansion (and the secret passageways between lounge-conservatory and kitchen-study) looking for clues (I guess). Only a few of the actors appear interested in being in this movie (Lesley Anne Warren, Michael McKean, Curry) but you can’t really blame the others (Martin Mull, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan) given the quality of humour here (oh yeah, it is supposed to be a comedy).  Play the game instead.