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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
According to the US Department of Justice, more than 600,000 people go missing annually. That is around 6.5 missing people for every 100,000. Cali ranks number 1 with the largest number of missing persons at 3,010 per year. The state with the lowest rate is Massachusetts coming in at 2.3 missing people per 100,000. Even with the high numbers, for the most part, many of the missing cases are resolved. In 2021, based on the Department of Justice data, 521,705 missing person cases were reported, more than 485,000 of which were resolved within the year. BOOM! You just learned some stuff from a movie blog. I probably wrote about it in my Prisoners review but never too old to learn some stuff. Now on to the movie.
I recently watched Klute. A film directed by and produced by Alan J. Pakula, written by Andy and Dave Lewis, and starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. A mystery film that is far more personal than a mystery. Tom Gruneman, a chemical company executive from Pennsylvania, has disappeared. While investigating, the police find several erotic letters in Gruneman’s office addressed to a high-class New York City prostitute named Bree Daniels (Fonda). After six long months of getting nowhere with the investigation, Peter Cable (Cioffi), a fellow executive at Gruneman’s company, along with Greneman’s wife, Holly, decide that the best thing to do is hire a family friend and detective John Klute (Sutherland) to do his own investigation in Gruneman’s disappearance. Klute rents an apartment in the basement of the building Daniels lives in. Even though Klute has zero experience finding people, he taps Daniels’ telephone and records her telephone conversations. After a few nights, he contacts Daniels and asks for her help solving Gruneman’s disappearance. Daniels is reluctant since she is a high-class prostitute who works for herself. She does the job as a compulsion and needs them funds. Even though the two are frosty towards each other initially, the two soon start a personal and emotional relationship. As they work together, they soon discover that as they draw closer to each other, a killer is watching from a distance, ready to take Daniels as his own. Can Klute and Bree find out what really happened in time?
Honestly, I don’t even know why this film is called Klute. Even though he was the title character, the whole movie revolves around Bree’s life and personal interaction. We see her emotions, thoughts, and feelings inside her life when she goes to therapy sessions. Side note: Therapy is a blessing that everyone should do. Okay, back to the review. Bree lets out everything in therapy, and we connect with her because homegirl has some problems. We see that she is trying to stop being a prostitute by doing acting auditions, but her thrill for sex is so high that she needs it even though it brings her sadness. We also see her getting down, and there is nothing wrong with it.
I want to say that homeboy is a side character in this film. They could’ve put in anyone else, and it would’ve worked because he was meh. We have Klute, one of the emotionless people I have ever seen on film. Dude doesn’t smile, speaks in the same tone, and seems like a freakin bore to the world. He wants to find his friend at all costs. He taps Bree’s phone, follows her, and does a good job investigating.
The film does outstanding work by combining the two people into one fluent movie. Opposites really do attract in this film. After some fighting between the two, they develop a strong sense of companionship. With his stoic personality, homeboy is a rock and stability that Bree needs. On the other end, Bree is that wild person who can get down but needs love. The pair is a sight to see, but they can make it work. The one scene where I thought it was off was when Bree gets high and goes to the club. Klute stands in the background watching, and you can’t tell if he is angry or disappointed. Once again, no emotion. Bree looks depressed and just sad.
As far as the mystery part of the film. It comes at you subtly and at different times when you least expect it. The film draws you in so well with learning about Bree that you forget that the whole purpose of the film is to find someone. It seems like the movie is more about the person who is stalking Bree than anything else. Bree gets strange letters and phone calls. When Klute comes around, we see that her apartment is completely ransacked in one scene. She goes and meets some dude in a factory, and the film makes you think it’s him, and then, nope, it’s someone else.
I could talk about several performances, but this film was about Jane Fonda. She is the only one who you will go and watch this film. This was the second Jane Fonda film that I saw, and I must admit that she was a million miles better than what she was in Coming Home. Fonda from a legendary family commanded this film, making her the star and title character a forgotten person. First, damn, Fonda, you are hot as hell in this film. Looking so fine and good. Now for your performance, it was straight-up amazing to watch. You drew me in and held my attention throughout it. You made this movie work, and it was the best.
Klute is a good film where Jane Fonda told everyone to step back and hold her glass of wine. Homegirl came to play, and she delivered in all ways. The mystery part of the film is a nice aspect of the film that is sprinkled around nicely. I would say that the only reason to watch this film is to see the fantastic performance of Jane Fonda.
