Customer Reviews

Klute (Widescreen)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jane Fonda was pretty unpopular when she did this movie. So she had alot against her to win and Oscar. But her acting shon to be one of her best performances and she won the Oscar she so deserved. Donald Sutherland was good and contributes to the atmosphere of the movie.

But..
Here's the problem. Warner Brothers have released this film on DVD which means it comes in an annoying card case instead of the usual plastic durable DVD boxes you'd get else where. They dont last as long, and it's harder to put in to a dvd collection when it has totally different dimensions to the rest.
It's quite a job to cut and place in a normal box. For the sake of 25 cence in cost saving, they've doing themselves a diservice. The security tags are hard to get off due to the sticky tag being stuck to [you guessed it] card.

It's easy to see why Jane Fonda won her first Oscar for her turn as a brilliant actress-hooker in this top-notch Alan J Pakula thriller/character study. I recently caught "Klute" again on cable and was immediately taken in as if I'd never the film in the first place, which for me is a sign of a movie's overall impact. Bree, Fonda's character, has tricked with more than a few unusual characters and when one of them stays missing for 6 months, a private detective - the Klute character - is called in to investigate by the poor fellow's family. Whan ensues is a heart-pounding maze of a movie, with twists and turns today's audiences might be expecting, but that are nonetheless delivered in faux-Hitchcockian splendor by the talented Pakula. Donald Sutherland - that most deserving of underrated actors - is perhaps his best ever (other than in "Ordinary People") as Klute. His son, Keiffer, stars on TV's hit series "24" and its clear where he gets the acting gene. The startlingly young and dashing Donald looks less like Keiffer and much more like the brilliant Tobey McGuire (in his pre=Spiderman spate of pics like "Cider House Rules.") He's everyman and no one at once, which and of itself requires tremendous acting chops. Sutherland's got them in spades. Also watch for a pre-"All in the Family" Jean Stapleton as a kooky secretary late in the movie. Some of the 60s and early 70s lingo, mood rings and situations might fall flat for today's viewers (i.e. letting it all hang out, etc.)but overall, this is a terrific picture. Don't expect the "Happy Hooker" but enjoy the ride.

Respected family man Tom Gruneman has disappeared, and his friend, detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland), is on the case. There is only one clue: A letter written by Tom to a New York City call girl named Bree (Jane Fonda). Klute finds her and enters her tawdry world; gradually they fall for each other. As one clue leads to another, two of Bree's friends are murdered, and it's clear that she's next on the killer's list.

Fonda certainly deserved her Best Actress Oscar for this raw and powerful role. Bree is bold and confident, vulnerable and afraid for her life. Sutherland is very good as the poker-faced detective who is initially repulsed by Bree's life. Roy Scheider has a small but memorable role as a ruthless pimp. Michael Small's eerie soundtrack is guaranteed to give you chills, and the taut script will keep you on the edge of your seat. This thriller has lost none of its intensity since 1971; it's scary and delivers top-notch performances.

This could be a film -about- the late sixties, done today. It's just superb. It holds up so well ... it makes you struggle with the problem of why most other older films become so dated ... Great DVD image, by the way. Very different than watching it on TV.

Oh come on, any movie where Roy Scheider plays a PIMP is good in my book!

Actually, I tend to rent these older films and then take a couple weeks before I watch them. I was a bit reluctant heading in to Klute, but was hooked from the opening credits. I think I liked the same things that people disliked about it. There is a certain uncomfortable weirdness that permeates through this film, that was not in the least bit accidental. Donald Sutherland plays his part to the hilt! I loved those scenes where he wouldn't say anything at all. I get the impression, that we are so used to a certain style of dective films these days (lots of acrobatics and explosions and shooting) that we fail to appreciate subtle films such as this. I've never been a fan of Jane Fonda. I've really had no impression of her whatsoever. This film, however, really changed that. She was FULLY deserving of her Oscar for this role.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film. Buy it. Now!

Klute is more than good. Good films make you say to yourself ï¿That was cleverï¿ or ï¿Gee, I didnï¿t expect thatï¿. Klute is a different animal; it is more involving and gets under your skin. It is a personal film. Maybe itï¿s just me but I really felt something after I watched it.

Klute is the last name of a detective (Sutherland) who is searching for a missing man. Much of the story focuses on a call girl named Bree (Fonda) the last person to see the missing person alive. The film explores the dark side of male sexual fantasy and effects on women which are involved in them. It is not a guilty pleasure movie or a heavy handed melodrama. It is a wonderfully mature, sensitive, subtle film which shows its subject matter in an honest light.

It is a unique film. A film that, in its own way, is so perfect. I could talk about how it was shot and the wonderful use of sound but I wonï¿t. Klute is more than good, it is a film to relate to, and treats its audience with considerable respect. It is movie which makes you feel something.

I've met a lot of people who don't think Jane Fonda can act. This is one of the Fonda films I tell them to watch upon hearing this, followed closely by "Coming Home" and "Julia." Frankly, upon seeing these films, I thought she had more talent than Dad Henry or brother Peter or niece Bridget (the dna for acting ability must be very strong in this family). Fonda plays Bree Daniels, a prostitute in 1970s New York City, and you see every gritty detail of her handling her profession. Making her life more dangerous is that she is threatened by a stalker/serial murderer (this villain role was not overdone at the time this film was made in the early '70s). This film does not glamourize prostitution which so many later films have attempted to do. One thing you will notice right away is how distinctive her voice is in this film and I've come to notice that most of the great actresses have these fabulous screen voices. The late Alan J. Pakula directed the film. He was an extremely talented writer-director-producer whose work I've missed since his passing. Donald Sutherland is a detective who comes into the stalking case and he does a very solid job throughout including kindling some romantic interest with the Fonda character (they did have a real life affair during the making of the film so the chemistry between them really works). However, it is Fonda who dominates the film from start to finish since this is Bree Daniels's story.

This movie is very very good. Read the synopsis given above these reviews. It nails the movie to a "T". Often times, those reviews drone on, however, this one really does the movie justice. What it fails to mention, is the soundtrack. The music is smooth and haunting. The DVD is a must have, for this movie must be seen in its original aspect. It's a Pakula classic. One of his three masterpieces from the 70's (the other two being "All the Presidents Men" and "The Three Days of the Condor".) Plus, Fonda's shag hairdo is probably the coolest hairstyle on any woman in any movie of the 70's!

The 1970's was a glorious era for film making. Finally free of the formulaic approach the film studios took in the production of films, directors, screen writers and actors were finally given the opportunity to take risks, to stretch the imagination, to experiment with content, all the while creating bodies of work which are still relevant today, but, sadly, are not as present in the box office these days. Such films such as "MASH", "The French Connection", "The Godfather", "Taxi Driver" and "Klute" cast a diversity of some of Hollywood's finest talent in gritty realism, addressing themes of sexuality, violence, racism, war and peace in ways that may have been suggested in the past but were never realized until the 1970's. In the film "Klute", Jane Fonda plays Bree Daniels, an anxiety-ridden wanna-be actress who is consumed by her addiction to the attention and power she craves in her secret life as a high-priced call girl. In this powerful role, Fonda demonstrates a remarkable depth of character, portraying a woman both confident and insecure, revellatory in her sexual freedom and disgusted by it at the same time. She inadvertently becomes embroiled in a disappearance/murder mystery, one which stoic detective John Klute, played marvelously with considerable restraint by the terrific Donald Sutherland, is brought in from rural Pennsylvania into gritty New York City to investigate. Klute is asked by a family friend to search for a friend, a wealthy businessman who has disappeared in NYC and may have been a client of Daniels. In the meanwhile, a serial killer has been preying on call girls, and Klute fears his hometown friend may be the killer. From the start of their relationship, as Klute's investigation leads him to depend on Bree Daniels for clues and help, there is an unbreakable, almost unbearable sexual tension between the two that is completely undeniable. Will they or won't they?
In what is probably the most memorable scene, which demonstrates that at one point, Jane Fonda was probably the best working actress around, she is in the act with one of her clients, madly screaming and flailing, seeming to enjoy this act of sexual passion, when she suddenly looks over to her nightstand to check the time, then instinctively, without pause, returns to faking pleasure. It is this kind of acting, subtle yet powerful, that was remarkable for its' time. Fonda's performance was the kind, for its' day, that was groundbreaking and scandalous. While Sutherland is the title character (and mind you, he is absolutely brilliant playing up to the fish-out-of-water routine without losing his essence), it is Fonda as Bree Daniels that carries this film.
Refreshingly, for a mystery, we are spared the usual hystrionics that are so common in crime procedurals these days. No gruesome slashings, no wild shoot-em-ups. Just a character-driven film that reminds us that behind a good story are terrific roles demanding to be brought to life.

In 1971, Jane Fonda was known more for her political stances than her acting. She had appeared in mostly lightweight romantic comedies like Barefoot In The Park or campy movies like Barbarella. In 1969, she started to reinvent herself as a serious actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? She scored her first Best Actress nomination for her role. In Klute, she showed off some serious acting chops as Bree, the hooker being stalked by a killer. Ms. Fonda perfectly conveys the emotional distance of a prostitute especially in one scene where she mechanically goes through the emotions with a customer. Donald Sutherland is the title character, a small town detective who comes to the big city to work to search for a missing person from his town. He plays the role in a downbeat, dour mood. He is a bit humorless, but it fits well into the context of film. Klute marked a string of dark, psychologically intense films for director Alan J. Pakula. Ms. Fonda won the first of her two Oscars accomplishing the feat before her legendary father, Henry, finally won in 1981.