Clay Pigeons

Script, setting, attitude, and especially casting add up to a smart exercise in dark comedy that's never over-the-top funny, but always engaging for its clever details.

The film, smoothly directed by David Dobkin, has a neat farcical structure but is too in love with its overly tight-lipped protagonist and deadpan pacing.

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

An OK debut effort, but like so many "Pulp Fiction" wannabes, it lacks freshness and energy.

Cold-blooded comedy.

Perhaps this will seem fresh and interesting years down the road, when the self-aware-thriller genre has long played out, but for now, it's a tired horse that should have been put down in the pitch meeting.

It's never clear, by the way, why any of this is supposed to be even remotely funny...This is the kind of movie asinine enough to believe that the mere juxtaposition of sadistic violence and a jaunty tune on the soundtrack is, in itself, clever.

Some good shots, and a fantastic highlight reel from Vince can't hide the blemishes of how boring it can actually be. I also wasn't satisfied with the conclusion -- infact it wasn't very clever or believable based on this history this movie creates for the characters.