What's a traditional thing to do around Christmas? That's right, board games! Well, until you get the kids rotting their brains on the shiny electronic gizmo du jour, with the actual enjoyment of flattened cardboard often left to the older nerdier types these days. Either way, just because, I'll take a look at a couple of movies that, somehow, were inspired by these classic collections of plastic and tokens (which all got inevitably lost to the oblivion beneath the sofa). On paper, it almost makes sense--some of the scenarios you'd get transcribed on boxes and instruction manuals would stir some storylines in the imaginations of many, so why not transcribe that to celluloid? Maybe, just maybe, it could work. And here's one where many in fact argue it did!
You've probably at least heard of Clue, or Cluedo, whichever. You play as a bunch of rather prosaically named characters in a mansion, with a shuffle of cards determining who is in fact guilty of unprescribed use of a wrench, a candlestick, or some other improvized weapon. Based on some skill and luck, you then figure out who did it, where, and how. It's a simple premise, and in the world of the screen, not exactly an original one--so, 35 years ago, Jonathan Lyn decided to go about it simply by having as much half-demented fun with it as possible.
Set in the 1950s--the period comes into it more than you might think at first--we have a collection of guests invited to a dark and story mansion by butler Wadsworth, who is played by one of the most awesome purveyors of pure unprocessed ham on cinema, the original Pennywise, the greatest movie Satan, Tim Curry himself. You'd be thinking he steals the show completely, and you'd be right. But that's not to say the rest of the cast doesn't get their time to shine or have fun--be they Madeline Kahn as the inscrutably icy Mrs. White, or Christopher Lloyd as the befuddled Professor Plum (even the naming scheme gets an explanation here). When the film really kicks into gear, everyone's taking turns domination the set, and it only ramps up from there.
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| Why yes, Mr. Curry, that's how anyone would respond to Rocky Horror fanart. |
How does Lyn keep you interested with something seemingly so simple? Easy--you're constantly getting a new twist, a new revelation, a new accusation, roughly every other minute or so. The pace is very snappy, as the characters lurch from one room to another once they find their mysterious benefactor done in. Everyone also has their own secret, their own potential agenda, so just that simple formula is enough to keep you watching alongside the breezy pace.
And hey, they even do a good job honoring their box-contained source material. Just like the game slogan, it's their objective to find out who did it, where, and how--just with a lot more complications thrown into the mix. Much like in the game, there's secret passages to uncover, imminent arrival of the police, and even new guests to be thrown in. So honestly, as an adaptation? It does more justice than many a more serious Hollywood take on a classic would.
Oh, and of course, things get great towards the end, for a couple of reasons. For one, here is where Tim Curry is having the time of his life--rolling and running around the set like a deranged ten-year old who's consumed an entire Wonka factory of candy, while unravelling the mystery with all the overacting only a master of set chewing like him can present. And here comes the marketing gimmick of the film at the time--you potentially get a different ending, which puts radically new spin on things. On release, it depended where exactly the movie was screened; these days, you can have the DVD select one for you. It wasn't well received back then, but hey, if it truly was random, it'd be one way to get people back into the cinema for return viewings!
Hell, it's one you could even do now. I know Netflix has done such things like the likes of Bandersnatch, but imagine if they went as far to never even tell anyone of an alternate ending to something, just to watch the furor arise. Some might call it cheating, and it doesn't exactly pander to those smug types that proclaim they have it all figured out half an hour in...but hey, it's something different, and it just adds to the fun factor.
Overall? For what it is, Clue is a surprisingly fun energetic little flick, best approached like you're watching a big-budget pantomime. It's not something you'd probably make now--not least for the ending switcheroos, or even for poor Tim Curry no longer being able to destroy the scenery following his unfortunate stroke in recent years. After future failures like Battleship and the next one on our list, nobody would even consider making an adaptation like this. Well, maybe they'd do some horror monster flick version of Snakes and Ladders on SyFy that rips off Anaconda, but that's it.
Either way--coming up after this, we look at another tabletop-based flick that also happens to have an overacting British actor, albeit one that's...not quite so cherished!
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