REVIEW: CLOWN-N-OUT

This is a slick little thriller/action/comedy flick from director Mark Hensley that edges its way into Tarantino Territory without ever fully diving into it, which is a good thing.

We have a lot of converging stories that mostly take place in one apartment, which belongs to the suicidally depressed Elaine (Kat Mahard)There's the down-at-the-heels party clown John (Joe Heck) the possible assassin neighbor Sharon (Monazia) and the nameless hitman (Zachariah Axel)

The story kicks off when our hapless hitman attempts to enter the apartment but is foiled by neighbor Sharon. We then shift to an Elaine who is obviously on the brink of doing something that she can't come back from, and then shift again to John the party clown with a host of his own problems, including a stint in jail.

The knot that ties this bow together is the vicious Frank (Max E Williams) whose involvement becomes clear as the story develops. The film keeps that story moving along at a brisk pace and manages to include everything from slapstick humor to some pretty serious drama, and the cast delivers very good performances across the board, and of course Max E Williams (Winning Time, Bosch) is simply next level outstanding. He's definitely one hell of a villain!

One thing that I would have liked to see was a little more background/explanation for who/what/why Sharon was exactly all about, but I guess we can't have everything. And hell, maybe some things are best just left unexplained. I guess. I dunno, I wanted to know more!

While obviously not a huge multi-million dollar production, this isn't your typical zero-budget indie. You can tell that a lot of professional care and craft went into the film. And while it doesn't really break any new ground from a storytelling perspective, CLOWN-N-OUT is a well-handled short and sweet little thriller with some comedy and drama thrown in for good measure!