Clay Pigeons

Clay Pigeons (1998)

  • 63% of critics liked it
    (51 reviews)

  • 65% of users liked it
    (9,354 ratings)

David Dobkin made his feature directorial debut with this comedy thriller about an ordinary guy mistakenly viewed as a serial killer by the FBI. In small-town Mercer, Montana (population 1,536), easy-going gas station attendant Clay Bidwell (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a comical nightmare that gets… More

Play Trailer

R,
Directed By
Written By
Matt Healy
Genres
Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy
In Theaters
Sep 25, 1998 Wide
Gramercy Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Dennis Harvey, Variety

    Slanted as a black comedy, but fails to secure the sufficiently outre tone (let alone any real suspense) needed to make it more than a middling retread.

  • Derek Adams, Time Out

    This quirky comedy thriller, produced by Ridley Scott, is both blackly funny and, at times, tensely disturbing and quite macabre.

  • Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

    "You've got a sense of humor, I like that," Lester Long proclaims at one point. Well, we all like that, but would it be asking too much to have a little coherence to go along with it?

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Within Clay Pigeons is a smaller story that might have involved us more, but it's buried by overkill.

  • James Berardinelli, ReelViews

    This is one of those motion pictures where the director (David Dobkin, in his feature debut) and the writer (Matt Healy) are so concerned about developing a clever, serpentine plot that they forget that there has to be a credible ending.

Read all 17 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • ♥˩ƳИИ &


    "What an interesting film. I didn't really know much about it before seeing it. But with Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix being in the film, you really can't pass that up. So glad I made the choice to watch it. I really liked it. The acting was good on most parts. That… More

  • Melvin W


    Clay Pigeons is a very odd but good indie thriller. It's David Dobkins; who would later go on to direct the more commercially successful Wedding Crashers, debut film. The plot is entertaining but what really makes the movie is Joaquin Phoenix. Vince Vaughn seems like a weird… More

  • Tim S


    A very unlikely cast of people in an unlikely production from Scott Free makes for good bedfellows. First and foremost, this is a discussion film. You are NOT given all of the answers at the end of the movie, only the outcome. After you watch it, you'll want to discuss with… More

  • Aaron N


    Sheriff Mooney: Promise me something there, will you? Clay Bidwell: What's that? Sheriff Mooney: Promise you'll stop finding dead people. This is a little known flick from 1998 starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn, before they became big stars. It's a quirky dark… More

  • Michael G


    Not great, not bad.

Read all 12 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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Trailers & Clips