Not even bad in a good way

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Following the exploits of a good-hearted, booze-soaked clown who is trying to make his way in Palookaville, a town populated by denizens of that certain ditch in the entertainment world inhabited by clowns and mimes. He tries to kick the booze but his demons are hard to face. He gets involved in seedy intrigue with the tough, jaded rodeo clowns, picks on the mimes, and tries to avoid the indignity of doing balloon animals, all while keeping the bottle at bay lest he wake up puking into his frightwig. Oh yes, there's a love interest as well. Tasteless? Absolutely. Funny? If you know and love an alcoholic (or a clown), and you can still laugh about it, this movie will send you rolling off the couch and onto the floor in stitches.Bobcat is always happy to degrade himself on screen, and he does it brilliantly here. Shakes is a total mess. A disgusting mess. A shameful mess. Bobcat sells the drunkenness and depravity, whether he's being peed on (Nevermind. You'll see.) or stumbling around in a drunken stupor. Yet he still manages to remain likable and not lose his status as the film's protagonist. My favorite part has to do with the intense hatred the clowns harbor for mimes,(I mean, really, who needs 'em!). The fight scene in the park, with the shout "Learn to Talk", is priceless. The obvious discomfort when Shakes must pose as a mime to avoid arrest is also a blast! I had no idea Bobcat Goldthwait was this creative...Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

First the only good news about "Shakes the Clown" is that the clown makeup and neon-type lighting provides an interesting setting. Now the bad. Both Adam Sandler and Robin Williams are totally wasted, smothered by Goldthwait's slapstick, gross-out, outrageously non-funny script. Clowns are supposed to be funny, therefore a movie about clowns should be downright hilarious. Well, car chases, puke jokes, drunken clowns, and various other nonsense turns what could have been a ground breaking black comedy into the disaster it is. Do not buy or rent this expecting black comedy similar to the brilliant "Bad Santa", because you will be sadly disappointed. I know I was. - MERK

This movie has an All Star cast, (or at least a lot of them)Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Florence Henderson, & LaWanda Page (aunt Ester from Sanford and Son). A stark look at alcoholism through the loopy eyes of rouge clowns. They drink and carouse, drive strange clown cars, and close down "The Twisted Balloon" bar every night. No one as well as Shakes (Bobcat Goldthwait). He wakes up every morning puking but he doesn't have a problem because and can quit when he wants. He just doesn't because he has a lot of fun drinking. He gets fired drinking at a kids party and going nuts (a very funny scene). There are so many zany one liners in this movie. Like when the bar fly lady Aunt ester says "As soon as that camera is off, he gonna f*** that little dog." after Peppy the Clown announces his (forced) retirement from the clown kids TV show. He's all crying and announcing his replacement "Binky" the biggest piece of crap in clown land. Shake thought he was going to get the TV show, guess not. At the bar one of Binkies cronies tells Shakes "Oh, yeah? Well, the only show YOU could ever star in would be a show called the... Not... Funny... DIARRHEA CLUB!" Later Binky frames Shakes for killing Owen Cheese, Shakes boss and father figure (after Shakes dad died in that elephant mishap) Owen finds Binky and a couple of dope dealing rodeo clowns snorting coke and Binky gives a funny line-"You didn't see nothing old man. We're just five happy party clowns, sitting down to a plate of beef. White- powdery- beef." The rest of the show is about Shakes figuring out he did not kill his boss (he was so drunk he didn't know) then finally finding redemption at a 12 step program. This show is hard to watch for people who can't understand addiction, especially when its twisted into a whimsical very dark comedy. Very unique, nothing else even close to like it!

I remember my girlfriend and I going to see this movie in great anticipation on its opening weekend back in 1992. It just seemed perfect -- a comedy about a down-and-out clown with a drinking problem. Had a solid cast as well with impressive cameo appearances. The sub-plot with the rivalry between mimes and clowns was another great idea.But it was, and remains, in the top 5 of the most disappointing and inexcusably awful films I've ever endured. Some films are bad due to low budget, or poor talent, or bad concept (or a combination of these things), but this had everything it needed and failed -- resoundingly -- on all fronts. I remember sitting there with my sweet girlfriend and just waiting and waiting for a laugh -- anything -- to show up. Only one thing made us laugh -- when Shakes is trash-talking with another clown in the clown bar and the clown is at a loss for words and says something like, "Well, you're the captain of the diarrhea club". Doesn't sound funny does it? In any other film it would have been a terrible and disgusting line but to a tearful of moviegoers desperate for a laugh, it was like water in the desert.My lasting impression of this film was how deeply mean-spirited, overly dark, cruel, and scatological it was. It was as if 11-year-old bullies were given the task to write/direct/produce a major motion picture. Those attributes are rarely really funny, even to pre-teens.You WILL be disappointed with this film -- it doesn't even have value as something to poke fun at. Instead of watching this film, watch "Kingpin" instead, which is a similar sort of film but is actually watchable and humorous at times.