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Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider, Dorothy Tristan ... see more see more... , Rita Gam , Fred Burrell , Rosalind Cash , Candy Darling , Nathan George , Anthony Holland , Betty Murray , Vivian Nathan , Antonia Rey , Richard B. Shull , Joe Silver , Barry Snider , Jean Stapleton , Shirley Stoler , Morris Strassberg , Lee Wallace , Mary Louise Wilson , Robert Milli , Jerome Collamore , Richard Russell Ramos , Tony Major , Jane White

The first part of his "paranoia trilogy," Alan J. Pakula's 1971 thriller details the troubled life of a Manhattan prostitute stalked by one of her tricks. Investigating the disappearance of his friend... read more read more... Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli), rural Pennsylvania private eye John Klute (Donald Sutherland) follows a lead provided by Gruneman's associate Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to seek out a call girl who Gruneman knew in New York City. The call girl is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), an aspiring actress who turns tricks for the cash and to be free of emotional bondage. Klute follows Bree's every move, observing the city's decadence and her isolation, eventually contacting her about Gruneman. Bree claims not to know Gruneman, but she does reveal that she has received threats from a john. As Bree becomes involved in Klute's search and realizes that she is in danger, she reluctantly falls in love with Klute, despite her wish to remain unattached to any man. When she finally comes face to face with the killer, however, she is forced to reconsider her detached urban life. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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28 critics

R, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Alan J. Pakula

Release Date: June 25, 1971

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DVD Release Date: February 5, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (375)

  • brooklynspo
    May 20, 2007
    brooklynspo
    Some of the best cinematography ever - I love the look of this film. Maybe Jane's finest turn. As a suspense thriller however, it's just OK.
  • gokhale1
    September 14, 2011
    gokhale1
    With a strange name like "Klute" I wondered what's in store, considering all I knew was that this was an early Alan J. Pakula film and the first of his informally known "Paranoia trilogy".

    [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2NE9h08ul3c/TnDcxZtMEPI/AAAAAAAACAw/-0itAs0ODlU... read more/vlcsnap-2011-09-14-22h15m24s66.jpg[/img]

    Things start to happen immediately as the credits begin to roll, and we soon come across the situation around which "Klute" is centered. Tom Gruneman, a Pennsylvania executive has disappeared without a trace, under mysterious circumstances. It is after six whole months of wasted efforts and no outcome on part of the police, that Gruneman's friend and colleague Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) entrusts the responsibility of investigating the disappearance to Tom's family friend, John Klute (Donald Sutherland). All he has, to start with, is an obscene letter, apparently written by Gruneman to a New York prostitute named Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda). With the Bree Daniels link, Klute begins his investigation hoping to reach Gruneman.

    But Klute soon realizes that things aren't gonna be easy, as it becomes difficult to get the reluctant Bree to talk. Bree is a call-girl but is clearly not enjoying it. She wants to be an actress, but doesn't seem to be getting a break. In the midst of all this she is haunted by the constant feeling of being stalked. She feels she is being followed around, even gets blank calls in the wee hours of the night! Obviously in a troubled state of mind, she visits a shrink from time to time and reveals her deepest fears to her.

    [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-anNqSehGmwU/TnDcwwpy61I/AAAAAAAACAs/2izmrtMWOfc/vlcsnap-2011-09-08-20h43m51s34.jpg[/img]

    The film then delves upon Klute's investigations and Bree's personal problems as it moves along its steady and gripping screenplay. Does he finally uncover the mystery of Gruneman's disappearance? Is there more to it than he can ever handle?


    "Klute" reminded me of Francis Ford Coppola's terrific psychological drama "The Conversation" on many levels. Although "Klute" came out before "The Conversation", one can't help but notice the astounding similarities in the "atmosphere" of both the films. The film is slow-paced, there is considerable focus on surveillance and the use of tape-recorded voices, the constant paranoia of being followed and watched all the time, along with other things. Of course, that said, the two films are completely different in terms of plot and central theme.

    [img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fxc7_sZ95P8/TnDcwswJ8DI/AAAAAAAACAk/nKq6YoreU68/vlcsnap-2011-09-08-20h48m36s68.jpg[/img]


    This is only Pakula's second film as director and he does a fantastic job with the material at hand, the screenplay written by Andy and Dave Lewis. It is great to see Donald Sutherland underplay his character of Klute, thus making his performance quite memorable. Jane Fonda is superb in her Oscar winning role as the troubled call-girl wanting to quit. The always dependable Roy Scheider appears briefly in an important role as Frank Ligourin, Bree's former pimp and makes sure he makes a mark in whatever little screen time he gets! Michael Small's enigmatic music is creepy and at some point reminded me of some B-horror films but that is actually a compliment as the music suits some of the more nail-biting moments shot in the dark.

    However I must admit that while the film is built up in a pretty solid fashion up to its climax, the final few minutes are a tad disappointing...but maybe it's just me; perhaps I was expecting a bit more from this film and hence ended up feeling somewhat underwhelmed!

    Nonetheless, credit must be given where it is due, and this film is surely a must-see for lovers of old school mysteries and whodunits!


    Score: 8/10.
  • ceWEBrity
    January 21, 2011
    ceWEBrity
    What probably read as a pretty uninteresting story is brought to stunning, sanguine life by Alan J. Pakula. The plot is thin and unsatisfying, and I don't think I'll ever truly get Donald Sutherland's complete disinterest in everything he gets cast in, but the center of the film ... read moreis rightly Jane Fonda's high-class hooker Bree. Watching her move through this bizarrely cryptic, sinister world is captivating; she digs her talons into the psychology of this angry, intelligent woman and doesn't let go. It is a full, consummate performance, fabulous and yet oddly underseen work. She is clearly the center of Pakula's aesthetic; I found his mise-en-scene to be something of a representation of Bree herself, enigmatic and obscured but in some ways very forthcoming. The gruesome parts are easy to see, but everything else feels hidden away. If you're looking for a subtly stylish, quiet thriller with one instance of excellent character work, Klute will fit the bill. It isn't perfect, lacking dramatic impact and not fully scaffolded by all involved, but its visual clout is clear.
  • ajv2688
    December 22, 2010
    ajv2688
    I really liked Fonda and Sutherland together in this movie. It combines a detective movie and one of those falling in love with a call girl movies. It's a good movie.
  • ythelastman89
    August 24, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Such a great movie and one of the best thrillers to ever exist. While it's mainly a story about Bree Daniels, call girl extraordinaire, it has an ever so subtle disturbing tone. Part of that is due to one of the creepiest scores of all time, nothing is more unsettling than piano ... read morekeys strung together with a grown woman singing "la la la". What also makes it so convincing as a thriller is the devotion and time spent with the characters. You care about the people being terrorized and are all the more sensitive to them being harmed. Jane Fonda truly deserves every bit of praise she gets for this role, it is without a doubt one of the all time greatest female performances. There's so much depth and layers in Bree, one of a kind.
  • bottcorecords1
    December 18, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    Klute tries to be a throwback to the old detective noir stories of the 40s, as filtered through the lense of 70s hyper-realism and the result is something that draws from the worst aspects of both. This film has also convinced me finally and irreparably that Jane Fonda is one of... read more the worst actresses of her generation. She is the J-Lo of the 70s. J-Fo and J-Lo share much in common: neither is a well-rounded actress, but they each have one or two strengths on which they've managed to base an entire career. I enjoyed precisely one of Fonda's scenes in this movie, as she sits in the psychiatrists' office and helplessly decribes being in love with (Klute) and not understanding what it is she's feeling. It's a well-written scene of surprising emotion. The rest of the film rips open the seedy underbelly of prostitution, pimps and junkies, or at least I'm sure it did to 1970s eyes. To modern eyes, the film seems a little quaint. And dull. Dreadfully dull. The realism of 70s films (from Cassavetes' Killing of A Chinese Bookie to Altman's Nashville) have a tendency to bore me, with their incessant fascination with tedious and mundane activities (sometimes things are best left to a montage, rather than a ten minute, single-shot take of, for example, a man walking down the street and hailing a cab). We get the gyst of it, no need to elaborate further. In the case of Klute, the film-making is the point, not the story. In fact, there's very little story to speak of. A man goes missing, a prostitute is receiving obscene letters from an anonymous person that is believed to be the missing man, and Klute is hired to find out if it is indeed him. Klute goes to New York and in the process of his investigation, and despite all rationality, begins to fall for the prostitute. I think Donald Sutherland is a very good actor, but here he's given nothing to do, he stands around with a blank look on his face for most of the film, and his character is virtually all but silent. Fonda's character is indifferent to him at first, but slowly realizes she's in love with him. Why she feels this way or why we should care, I don't know. We're expected to have some emotional attachment to Fonda, but I can't exactly figure out why. The movie is intended to be a sort of thriller, but there's absolutely nothing thrilling or suspenseful here, save the last ten minutes. Eh. Maybe I'm just too picky when it comes to films: I like it when films are about something or have a point of view, or they make me feel a certain way or they have interesting characters. When it comes to this particular film, I guess I just don't get its appeal. And you know what? I'm fine with that.
  • kenstachnik
    December 27, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Beautifully dark in both image and theme. Fonda and Sutherland are both amazingly natural and vulnerable. Gordon Willis' cinematography is breathtaking.
  • mjgildea
    December 27, 2008
    mjgildea
    Klute looks great but as a thriller and as a story its pretty weak. Maybe I've seen too many others like it to realize this is the great uncle (if not granddaddy) of them all. Sutherland's performance is subdued and low-key and Jane Fonda's performance is definitely the highlight... read more. Klute works better as a character study than a thriller but in the end it just didn't age very well. As a whole don't look for too much but this movie's a must for fans of great performances.
  • tsigur
    December 11, 2007
    tsigur
    Gordon Willis' cinematography and the actors bring this thriller to another level.
  • garyX
    March 7, 2007
    garyX
    Interesting character driven thriller featuring Jane Fonda's insecure call girl verballing jousting with Donald Sutherland's unusually sensitive detective investigating a missing person. A little short on action, but clever, insightful and edgy.

View All Klute Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jay Cocks
August 30, 2009
Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine

[Fonda] makes all the right choices, from the mechanics of her walk and her voice inflection to the penetration of the girl's raging psyche. It is a rare performance. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

With Fonda and Sutherland, you have actors who understand and sympathize with their characters, and you have a vehicle worthy of that sort of intelligence. So the fact that the thriller stuff doesn't ... Full Review

Roger Greenspun
May 21, 2003
Roger Greenspun, New York Times

Pakula, when he is not indulging in subjective camera, strives to give his film the look of structural geometry, but despite the sharp edges and dramatic spaces and cinema presence out of Citizen Kane... Full Review

Emanuel Levy
January 3, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Playing a complex, sharpy written part, Jane Fonda won the Best Actress Oscar for her strongest dramatic performance in Alan Pakula's well mounted drmataic thriller Full Review

Tim Brayton
September 15, 2009
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

One of the most important and influential movies of the early 1970s. Full Review

August 30, 2009
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Sutherland is either an excellent sounding board for this nuanced portrait or he's a big zero, probably both. Fonda, however, transcends her limitations, making the most of her often forced quality as... Full Review

August 30, 2009
Film4

Fonda is simply a revelation, beautiful, sassy and streetwise, and yet hauntingly vulnerable. She deserved her Oscar in a role she has never bettered. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

For once, a genuinely psychological thriller. Full Review

Michael A. Smith
April 22, 2005
Michael A. Smith, Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Fonda won an Oscar. Roy Scheider is her nasty pimp!

Steve Crum
October 15, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Fonda and Sutherland sizzle. A great story too.

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Klute Trivia

  • Barbra Steisand was considered for the role of Bree Daniels in Klute  Answer »
  • Director Alan J. Pakula is famous for his "paranoia trilogy," three movies from the 70's that echoed America's new fear of government after Watergate. Two of them are "All the President's Men" and "Klute." What's the third one?  Answer »
  • Barefoot in the Park Barbarella Klute The China Syndrome On Golden Pond Monster-In-Law....  Answer »
  • Who did Klute talk to in Klute ?Det  Answer »
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