Jane Fonda came into her own with this Oscar-winning performance as an insecure high-class call girl who can't make it as a legitimate actress or model yet can't give up her addiction. She loves the control too much. But when she's stalked by a killer, she's forced to confront the darker aspects of her nature and profession. It's a complex and authentic performance and Fonda plays it cool and smart. Typical of early '70s films, Klute peels away social inhibition and hypocrisy with precision and candor. It's also typical of director Alan J. Pakula's intelligence and ability to work so well with actors. Donald Sutherland plays John Klute, the vulnerable detective trying to determine if his missing friend is the stalker and sexual deviant. This is the kind of moody, character-driven film so many of us miss today, even if the plot is pure hokum. --Bill Desowitz
2.
Adapting the traditional structure of 1940s film noir detective movies, director Alan Pakula created a thriller that addressed the 1970s issue of the compromises faced by a woman trying to maintain her freedom. Gloomy and stark, the film tracks Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), a Manhattan prostitute and aspiring actress in search of herself. Small-town private eye John Klute (Donald Sutherland) arrives in Manhattan to find that Bree is the only lead in the disappearance of his good friend Tom Gruneman. Bree turns tricks for cash and a need for emotional freedom, wishing to remain unattached and in control. However, as she becomes involved in Klute’s search and realizes she too is in danger, she also surprises herself by falling in love. Gordon Willis's (THE GODFATHER) cinematography provides a shadowy and claustrophobic atmosphere in which tapped phones and shadowy stalkers abound.
3.
Lots of guys swing with a call girl like Bree. One guy just wants to kill her.
Directed by Alan J. Pakula (The Pelican Brief, Presumed Innocent), Klute is a spellbinder that's both love story and taut thriller. As detective John Klute, Donald Sutherland gives a cool performance devoid of screen sleuth cliches. And Jane Fonda makes call girl Bree a shattering tour-de-force that swept 1971's Best Actress honors, including the Academy Award®, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Award.
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