Clue

Based on the popular board game, Clue follows several strangers as they’re summoned to a remote estate and informed that they’re all being blackmailed by the same man (Lee Ving’s Mr. Boddy) – with the bulk of the picture detailing the chaos that ensues after characters start dying. (Tim Curry stars as the aforementioned man’s helpful butler, while Coleen Camp plays the household’s French maid.) Filmmaker Jonathan Lynn kicks Clue off with a fairly rough opening stretch, as the movie, scripted by Lynn, suffers from a palpably stagy feel that’s compounded by a lack of genuine laughs (or even chuckles). It’s clear, then, that the film improves considerably as it progresses into its frenetic midsection, as Clue benefits substantially from the uniformly energetic performances and undercurrent of mystery (ie one can’t help but attempt to figure things out before the big reveal). It’s a pretty fun vibe that’s enhanced by Lynn’s old-school-farce approach to the material, although the decision to offer up three separate endings doesn’t entirely work and essentially kills the movie’s forward momentum (ie it just starts to feel anticlimactic and tedious, ultimately) – which effectively does confirm Clue’s place as a mostly entertaining yet decidedly erratic board-game adaptation.

**1/2 out of ****

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