I've tried to get my friends to watch this movie with me, but they just can't get over the fact that there are CLOWNS everywhere! GROW UP! "Shakes the Clown" is a truly love-it-or-hate-it movie, with each side taking their stand solidly. Put me in the love column. The fact that everything is played dead serious despite the fact that they're clowns is what keeps this movie from just being stupid. Tom Kenny is PERFECTLY cast as Binky, the best comic villain I have ever seen. Most comic villains are either so bad they're cool, or so bad you can't bear to watch them. Mr. Kenny achieves a perfect balance of being totally unappealing, yet you want to keep watching to see him get it in the end. The best villains feel their actions are completely justified, and Binky is no different. His actions are completely self-preserving and in his mind justifiable. Shouts should also be given out to Adam Sandler and Julie Brown. While Adam often resorts to the easy laugh in his starring vehicles, he's perfect as the insecure clown with no confidence with his ability with the opposite sex. You can easily see why P.T. Anderson chose him to star in "Punch Drunk Love". People have a tendency to hate Julie Brown, and I can understand why, but I've always been a fan of hers. Her role as the put-upon barmaid/girlfriend of Shakes would have been annoying in any other movie, but given the circumstances involved, I find her absolutely adorable. The characters of HoHo, Boots, Stenchy, Owen Cheese, the two cops, the rodeo clowns, etc. are all perfectly cast. Especially memorable is the late Sydney Lassick as Peppy, the forcibly retired host of the TV show that Binky takes over. It's a crying shame that more people don't like this movie, as it would have given Bobcat more opportunities to do films HIS way. Why didn't this film make EW's top 50 cult movies? Until people get over their phobia of clowns, this flick is never going to get the respect it truly deserves, and that is a crying shame. 10/10
