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Klute
Jane Fonda's first Oscar-winning performance anchors 1971's Klute, a solid blend of crime drama and character study that takes a minute to get going, but it does deliver the goods.
Donald Sutherland plays the title character, John Klute, a small town private investigator who has been commissioned to track down an old friend of his who has disappeared. The trail to finding this guy eventually leads to Klute to Manhattan, where it's revealed that his last contact was with a prostitute named Bree Daniel (Fonda), who, of course, is not exactly enthused to cooperate until other bodies continue to drop as Klute continues his investigation.
Andy and David E. Lewis' screenplay, which earned the film its only other Oscar nomination, doesn't take the route of the traditional murder mystery and chooses an unconventional conduit with which to deliver the story. Prostitutes have been a staple of movies for a long time, but Bree Daniels was just not what we think of when we think of a movie prostitute. Bree is not stupid and she has a surprising ability to be honest about herself even if she can't always be honest with other people about it. Loved the reveal that Bree doesn't love what she does, but she is addicted to it and is unable to stop. This was also the first film I recall where I met a prostitute who is actually seeing a psychiatrist, which allows the screenwriters to create this character onscreen for us and see exactly what makes her tick. Loved the first scene with her shrink where she humbly explains why she is such a good prostitute.
Just as the viewer starts to becomes fascinated with learning who this Bree Daniel is, the story shifts to a possible crime that Bree might have knowledge of and might be putting her in danger. I did like that John Klute was serious about what he was doing and did not fall into bed with Bree the second he met her, but the scene where they do finally connect sexually was smoking hot, well staged by veteran director Alan J Pakula, whose style is all over this movie.
Two years after her first Best Actress nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Fonda buried the sex kitten phase of her career forever and was awarded her first Best Actress Oscar, despite being smack in the middle of the whole "Hanoi Jane" controversy. Donald Sutherland is properly icy in the title role and Roy Scheider, Charles Cioffi, and Dorothy Tristan score in supporting roles. And if you don't blink, you'll catch a brief appearance from an actress named Jean Stapleton, who later on that year, would create the role of Edith Bunker on the CBS sitcom All in the Family, The film keeps the viewer in the dark for a good chunk of the running time, but viewer patience is rewarded and Fonda is sublime.
Jane Fonda's first Oscar-winning performance anchors 1971's Klute, a solid blend of crime drama and character study that takes a minute to get going, but it does deliver the goods.
Donald Sutherland plays the title character, John Klute, a small town private investigator who has been commissioned to track down an old friend of his who has disappeared. The trail to finding this guy eventually leads to Klute to Manhattan, where it's revealed that his last contact was with a prostitute named Bree Daniel (Fonda), who, of course, is not exactly enthused to cooperate until other bodies continue to drop as Klute continues his investigation.
Andy and David E. Lewis' screenplay, which earned the film its only other Oscar nomination, doesn't take the route of the traditional murder mystery and chooses an unconventional conduit with which to deliver the story. Prostitutes have been a staple of movies for a long time, but Bree Daniels was just not what we think of when we think of a movie prostitute. Bree is not stupid and she has a surprising ability to be honest about herself even if she can't always be honest with other people about it. Loved the reveal that Bree doesn't love what she does, but she is addicted to it and is unable to stop. This was also the first film I recall where I met a prostitute who is actually seeing a psychiatrist, which allows the screenwriters to create this character onscreen for us and see exactly what makes her tick. Loved the first scene with her shrink where she humbly explains why she is such a good prostitute.
Just as the viewer starts to becomes fascinated with learning who this Bree Daniel is, the story shifts to a possible crime that Bree might have knowledge of and might be putting her in danger. I did like that John Klute was serious about what he was doing and did not fall into bed with Bree the second he met her, but the scene where they do finally connect sexually was smoking hot, well staged by veteran director Alan J Pakula, whose style is all over this movie.
Two years after her first Best Actress nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Fonda buried the sex kitten phase of her career forever and was awarded her first Best Actress Oscar, despite being smack in the middle of the whole "Hanoi Jane" controversy. Donald Sutherland is properly icy in the title role and Roy Scheider, Charles Cioffi, and Dorothy Tristan score in supporting roles. And if you don't blink, you'll catch a brief appearance from an actress named Jean Stapleton, who later on that year, would create the role of Edith Bunker on the CBS sitcom All in the Family, The film keeps the viewer in the dark for a good chunk of the running time, but viewer patience is rewarded and Fonda is sublime.