Review: Who Is Cletis Tout?

What Is Cletis Tout? is not some cheap Pulp Fiction knock-off, just fluffy neo-noir hiding behind cutesy film references.

Who is Cletis Tout?
Photo: Paramount Classics

Finch (Christian Slater) and Micah (Richard Dreyfusss) fly the coop in search of Micah’s buried diamonds. Complicating matters is a little round of mistaken identity, Micah’s carrier pigeons, his daughter, and the bullet through his heart. That’s the gist of it, except writer-director Chris Ver Weil’s vies for neo-noir cred via Tim Allen’s thug-cum-film-professor. There’s exactly one good set piece here (gotta love those carrier pigeons!), the rest is deadened by self-reference. Since the story itself is thoroughly modern, it’s anyone’s guess what Ver Weil is trying to say with a wigless RuPaul’s subversion of the femme fatale archetype. What Is Cletis Tout? is not some cheap Pulp Fiction knock-off, just fluffy neo-noir hiding behind cutesy film references. Essentially, Allen’s Critical Jim is so drunk on noir that all he sees is Double Idemnity. When the classic plot point comes around, Allen is there to acknowledge its arrival. Who Is Cletis Tout? now begs two very obvious questions: who wants Tim Allen as a film professor and, more importantly, what’s the fucking point?

Score: 
 Cast: Christian Slater, Richard Dreyfuss, Portia de Rossi, Tim Allen, Peter MacNeil, Shawn Doyle, Louis Di Bianco, Tony Nappo, Bill MacDonald, Richard Chevolleau, Elias Zarou, Billy Connolly, RuPaul  Director: Chris Ver Weil  Screenwriter: Chris Ver Weil  Distributor: Paramount Classics  Running Time: 93 min  Rating: R  Year: 2002  Buy: Video

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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