September 24–October 1, 1998

movie shorts

Clay Pigeons

Showing stylistic influences ranging from Richard Brooks (especially In Cold Blood) to Gus Van Sant, former music video and commercial director David Dobkin local-colors his feature debut with Budweiser bottles, Montana horizons, time-lapsed-clouds-across-the-sky shots, and pickup trucks. Written by Matt Healy, this dark comedy raises fuzzy moral questions by way of its good ol' dimwit hero Clay (Joaquin Phoenix). Caught screwing his best friend's chain-smoking, sexed-out-of-her-mind wife (Georgina Cates in red underwear and tight frocks), Clay is framed by the best friend for murder. He covers up the non-crime, then heads to the local pub, where he meets Lester (Vince Vaughn), a seductive loudmouth who favors crispy cowboy shirts and an unnervingly flat laugh, sign of the psycho-killer. Bodies start appearing in town. The real fun begins when deadpan FBI agent Janeane Garofalo arrives, on the trail of a serial killer. For all its artful plot turns and camera angles, the film is most interesting when it eases up on such techniques and observes the interactions among these principals, along with Scott Wilson as ultra-low-key Sheriff Mooney.

-Cindy Fuchs