Classic Movie Review: 'Klute' Starring Jane Fonda

Klute is the classic on the latest edition of the Everyone’s a Critic Movie Review Podcast. The film was chosen because the new movie Reminiscence appears to be about a private detective and Klute centers on an investigation by a would-be private eye played by Donald Sutherland. More than any of that however, I’ve always wanted an excuse to watch Klute and this was a flimsy enough excuse to do so. I was rewarded for my effort as Klute was a truly rewarding experience.

Klute takes its title from one of the two leading characters, the far less interesting one, John Klute, played by Donald Sutherland. At a dinner party we see Klute interacting with friends in the home of his best friend, Tom (Robert Milli). Days after this party, Tom goes missing and no one is sure if he is alive or dead. The FBI is brought in on the case and they have a lead. In Tom’s desk they found letters written to a call girl in New York City.

The letters reveal what appears to be a secret life in which Tom was meeting with this call girl regularly and had become obsessed with her. The letters are filled with explicit fantasies and threats. The call girl is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), a wannabe actress who turns tricks occasionally to get by until she gets discovered. She spoke with the FBI but claimed not to recognize Tom. That shut the door for the FBI but they are supportive when Klute accepts an offer from Tom’s boss, Peter (Charles Cioffi), to become a private detective and keep the investigation going.

Klute is an experienced police officer and can handle himself in a manner that everyone agrees will be discreet. Klute’s first stop is seeing Bree Daniels to see if he can get anything from her that the FBI was unable to. Daniels, for her part, maintains that she doesn’t remember Tom, it’s been two years since she saw someone fitting his description. However, she has been receiving letters and phone calls from someone, presumably Tom and we soon see that she is being followed.

But enough with the plot description. I care about as much about the plot as director Alan J. Pakula does. Klute might appear to be a movie about plot but it’s far more about these two characters, Bree and Klute. Bree is actually the star of Klute, once the plot is introduced in a pair of terrific scenes, introducing Tom and Tom’s disappearance in the same family dining room, visually marrying his presence with his absence, the story immediately shifts to focus on Bree.

Bree is introduced at a modeling cattle call. She’s seated against a wall along with a dozen other would-be models who are assessed like cattle by a group of cruel, faceless executives who look at Bree’s hands and dismiss her without hardly speaking with her. She and all of the other girls are dismissed with barely any acknowledgement and another set of seeming cattle is ushered in to take their place.

This scene is perfect, it sets the world and the challenges facing Bree and forces you to confront her as more than just a sex worker. Bree is a woman with goals and dreams in a cruel world that appears to just want one thing from her. The set design in this scene is gorgeous, elaborate and massive. A striking set of paintings of a woman made up like a robot or an alien, hang over the women as they are assessed and whether they mean something or not isn’t as interesting as their beauty. That in itself, underlines the point about beauty as a commodity.

Pakula is exceptional in his details from production design to costumes, Klute is a brilliantly staged drama that creates a tangible sense of space where a human being, not a movie character, exists. There is a thriller plot playing out but the movie is more interested in Bree as a human being and uses every chance to show you who she is and you can make up your mind about how you feel about her.

Jane Fonda absolutely earned her Academy Award for Best Actress in Klute. This performance is ahead of its time. Fonda is a woman fully in control of herself fighting against a tide of male dominance that seems intent on making her only a commodity to be purchased, traded and discarded. It’s not an outwardly feminist movie, per se, but the undercurrent is clear, you must look at this woman and take on her humanity if you are going to try and pass judgment on her actions.

Donald Sutherland’s performance is far more functional but he’s still a solid foil. He’s not overly masculine or arrogant, he’s open to trying to understand and care for Bree even as he carries misconceptions about her due to her profession and his. Sutherland’s Klute is quite intentionally functional on the part of the screenplay which uses him to hang the thriller part of the movie on while we are off enjoying our time with Fonda revealing Bree the person.

The other great performance in Klute is from little known character actor Charles Cioffi. The movie never hides for a moment that Cioffi’s Peter is a suspect in this case. In fact, it’s so obvious that lesser viewers might think the movie has spoiled itself by revealing his nature too soon and too often. More discerning movie lovers should recognize that the thriller aspect of the story is merely window dressing. Cioffi communicates his intentions in memorable fashion and his sweaty brow and sad eyes are wonderful pieces of a creepy, sad character. His final monologue is a classic piece of talking villain, hammy and pathetic in exactly the way the character is hammy and pathetic.

Thriller theatrics, like the talking villain trope or numerous instances of the movie taking the killer's perspective, exist in Klute as a lure for mainstream audiences. The real subject of Klute however is forcing mainstream audiences to look down the camera at a sex worker and confront her humanity. The in your face aspect of how Bree is happy working as a call girl, and quite good at it, while she works toward acting and modeling and goes through the same doubts, anxieties and stresses as any other woman of the world, is the true subject of Klute.

The title Klute is itself a wonderful piece of misdirection. At once, it’s a strange title that gives you no indication what the movie is about, it’s intriguing in its mysteriousness and once you know it’s the name of Sutherland’s character, it fools you into thinking he’s the main character. We live in an era where titles are rarely asked to carry much importance. Klute is a reminder that such details can matter and do matter in the hands of a master filmmaker.

The use of the thriller genre to tell a very human story is wonderful and Alan J Pakula delivers with sensitivity and excitement. Jane Fonda is incredible in this role and I wish that I had seen this long ago so I could have always praised her. She is an absolute icon and Klute is her magnum opus, her incorruptible, undeniable masterpiece. Where many have tried to sabotage her legacy, they can’t take Klute away from here, the film is far too strong a statement about Fonda’s talent.