Klute (1971)

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

"Klute" comes from the same director who gave us "The Parallax View" - Alan. J Pakula. The above film is easily in the same league as other early 1970s American cinema. There isn't much in the way of actual graphic violence but the suggestion of violence is clearly there. The film is quite explicit in its sexual content but that is mainly presented in the background. Alan J. Pakula uses dark photography and harsh lighting to excellent effect, especially with the gripping climax. There is a lot of detail to the plot and every scene counts for something. Jane Fonda rightly earned her Oscar for Best Actress - her performance is a convincing and multi- dimensional one. She conveys by turns, feelings of toughness, coldness but also those of vulnerability as the prostitute of the film. Donald Sutherland scored heavily in his role as the police officer who then becomes a private eye. He should have been nominated. Roy Scheider is excellent as the pimp and drug dealer. He doesn't have much screen time but he makes his presence truly known. Charles Cioffi is positively creepy and sinister in his role. The screenplay is an exceptional one. The thing about the dialogue, is that it takes actors and not stars to bring the well developed characters to life and provide some depth. A star simply isn't heavyweight enough for the job. The plot follows the efforts of Donald Sutherland who is employed to locate a missing research scientist. The latter was mixed up with Jane Fonda in the movie and the twists to the tale soon develop. There are a few graphic references to drug use. New York is the ideal setting for the film. We really see the seamy underbelly of the city - just like in "The French Connection" as an obvious example. This is the kind of film that Hollywood has long forgotten how to make - sadly.

This justly famous film by Alan Pakula (The Parallax View, Sophie's Choice, All the President's men) ostensibly starring a very young Donald Sutherland as a small town cop turned private investigator who searches for a missing friend in big bad NYC would have qualified as a well-made but standard hard-boiled mystery if it were not for the stellar performance of Jane Fonda as the call girl whose help he enlists for his search, which lifts it into the category of a classic: rarely in film has a performance let us know a character so thoroughly. Advisory: drug use and language, scary but not too graphic violence, sex rather restrained by current standards.

"Klute" appealed to me as a crime thriller (and with Alan Pakula's name attached, you know it's going to be good), and I'll freely admit that it took me a while into the movie's running time to realize that's not what the movie's really about. First off, Jane Fonda owns this movie (Sutherland, despite top billing and a title named for his character is the supporting player). It's really about her call girl character's feeling trapped in a world for which she has no love; the self-loathing and uncertainty, her very mental state are what make this an interesting character. And calling it a memorable performance is putting it lightly. In a movie that deserves attention for its lighting, atmosphere and twisty narrative, you can't get her out of your head.7/10

Fine gritty dramatic mystery that gets the pulse of NYC in the early 70's just right. It becomes another character in the film which only strengths the picture and adds a certain creeping menace to it. While the movie pivots on the disappearance of a man it's really a character study of alienation with the investigation a peg to hang the main action on. Sutherland is fine as the inquiring detective John Klute but the film lives and dies on the character of Bree Daniels and Jane Fonda owns that part. Bree wants the world to believe she's one tough hard customer but as the film progresses it becomes more and more obvious that the bravado is a front. She displays raw, honest emotion in all her scenes but particularly in her therapy sequences. She shows so many layers to the character, including flashes of humor that Bree comes across as a real woman. Usually I try not to let appearance factor into my appraisal of a performance however that shag hairstyle is integral to the audience's acceptance of her as a tough call girl. Having moved forward and away from her initial image of the blonde cutie with her previous film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, she completely transforms herself in this. The soft blonde Jane Fonda of Barefoot in the Park or Barbarella of only a couple of years before would never be believable as Bree Daniels. The film was a major hit and she won her first Oscar for it. She was up against some excellent performances that year but she was the correct winner.Expertly directed by Pakula in his usual observant style this is a classic of '70's cinema. Highly recommended.