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Who is Cletis Tout?
Paramount // R // January 7, 2003
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A film that wants to be a cross between a Tarantino-ish noir film and "Get Shorty", "Who Is Cletis Tout?" unfortunately happens to star Tim Allen and Christian Slater instead of John Travolta or, well, just about anyone else. The film stars Tim Allen as Critical Jim, a hitman who is searching for Finch (Christian Slater), who Jim believes is Cletis Tout, as Finch took the dead Clout's identity.
As the picture opens, Jim has cornered Finch and is only waiting for the call to bump him off. The chat between the two starts off with a cringe-inducing amount of pop-culture references - the kind that we've heard hundreds of times before in other recent crime comedy/dramas. Jim eventually asks for Finch to "pitch" him the story that he's been going on about, as the two have nothing else to do but to wait.
So starts Slater's character into a tale that starts off in the 70s and heads forward towards present day. Finch and Micah (Richard Dreyfuss) break out of a prison that looks kinda like the one that they used in "Shawshank Redemption". Once out, Finch is handed a new identity, which just happens to be that one which a lot of very dangerous people don't want to see return. Of course, there's also the matter of the diamonds that Micah had and Finch's romance with his daughter (Portia De Rossi).
While I remain negative on the film overall, there are some positives. Slater's performance isn't terrific, but it's a decent effort and he works well with Dreyfuss (whose performance is also good) in their scenes together. Allen, who clearly wanted to try something different than another "Santa Clause" sequel, is rather mis-cast as Critical Jim, as his attempts to play "tough" are unconvincing and his constant quoting of movie lines is irritating. De Rossi isn't particularly good, either.
There are some decent moments scattered throughout and some inspired concepts (Dreyfuss's character has a few interesting tricks), but "Cletis Tout" seems like an attempt to throw a lot of genres that are past their peak together. The result is a film that seems like an unoriginal and less involving version of a lot of films (the box even calls it a mix of "Get Shorty" and "The Usual Suspects" - two far better pictures).
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Who Is Cletis Tout?" in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Although a rather plain-looking picture, Paramount's transfer presents it all quite well. Sharpness and detail are never outstanding, but the film does appear at least crisp and fairly well-defined throughout.
Flaws are occasionally present, but I doubt that many will find them particularly bothersome. The presentation does show some very minor edge enhancement now and then, as well as a few trace instances of compression artifacts. The print used, however, is completely clean, with no noticable instances of wear, specks or marks.
The film's occasionally bold color palette (the deep greens of the trees as the Slater and Dreyfuss characters escape into the forests early on) looked accurately rendered, with nice saturation and no concerns. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones appeared natural.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is hardly 5.1 - there's really nothing beyond the dialogue and occasional touches of score.
EXTRAS: The back of the disc states that the special features are "Not Rated". This is definitely true, as there are no supplemental features.
Final Thoughts: A comedy/crime caper that lacks the ambition to be much more than a lot of parts of other pictures put together, "Cletis Tout" occasionally hits a high note, but otherwise remained mediocre. With the $29.99 price tag, this is a rental, at best.
A film that wants to be a cross between a Tarantino-ish noir film and "Get Shorty", "Who Is Cletis Tout?" unfortunately happens to star Tim Allen and Christian Slater instead of John Travolta or, well, just about anyone else. The film stars Tim Allen as Critical Jim, a hitman who is searching for Finch (Christian Slater), who Jim believes is Cletis Tout, as Finch took the dead Clout's identity.
As the picture opens, Jim has cornered Finch and is only waiting for the call to bump him off. The chat between the two starts off with a cringe-inducing amount of pop-culture references - the kind that we've heard hundreds of times before in other recent crime comedy/dramas. Jim eventually asks for Finch to "pitch" him the story that he's been going on about, as the two have nothing else to do but to wait.
So starts Slater's character into a tale that starts off in the 70s and heads forward towards present day. Finch and Micah (Richard Dreyfuss) break out of a prison that looks kinda like the one that they used in "Shawshank Redemption". Once out, Finch is handed a new identity, which just happens to be that one which a lot of very dangerous people don't want to see return. Of course, there's also the matter of the diamonds that Micah had and Finch's romance with his daughter (Portia De Rossi).
While I remain negative on the film overall, there are some positives. Slater's performance isn't terrific, but it's a decent effort and he works well with Dreyfuss (whose performance is also good) in their scenes together. Allen, who clearly wanted to try something different than another "Santa Clause" sequel, is rather mis-cast as Critical Jim, as his attempts to play "tough" are unconvincing and his constant quoting of movie lines is irritating. De Rossi isn't particularly good, either.
There are some decent moments scattered throughout and some inspired concepts (Dreyfuss's character has a few interesting tricks), but "Cletis Tout" seems like an attempt to throw a lot of genres that are past their peak together. The result is a film that seems like an unoriginal and less involving version of a lot of films (the box even calls it a mix of "Get Shorty" and "The Usual Suspects" - two far better pictures).
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Who Is Cletis Tout?" in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Although a rather plain-looking picture, Paramount's transfer presents it all quite well. Sharpness and detail are never outstanding, but the film does appear at least crisp and fairly well-defined throughout.
Flaws are occasionally present, but I doubt that many will find them particularly bothersome. The presentation does show some very minor edge enhancement now and then, as well as a few trace instances of compression artifacts. The print used, however, is completely clean, with no noticable instances of wear, specks or marks.
The film's occasionally bold color palette (the deep greens of the trees as the Slater and Dreyfuss characters escape into the forests early on) looked accurately rendered, with nice saturation and no concerns. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones appeared natural.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is hardly 5.1 - there's really nothing beyond the dialogue and occasional touches of score.
EXTRAS: The back of the disc states that the special features are "Not Rated". This is definitely true, as there are no supplemental features.
Final Thoughts: A comedy/crime caper that lacks the ambition to be much more than a lot of parts of other pictures put together, "Cletis Tout" occasionally hits a high note, but otherwise remained mediocre. With the $29.99 price tag, this is a rental, at best.
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