‘Clay Pigeons’ ’ Implausible Flight

Blame it on Quentin and the Coens if you have to pin it somewhere, but murder comedies that mix black humor and bloody doings are lately thick on the land. It’s a subgenre that’s so new it’s already old, and “Clay Pigeons,” the latest example, shows why it’s both promising and played out.

Set in the mythical town of Mercer, Mont. (though filmed, not for any obvious reason, in Utah), “Clay Pigeons” echoes more than Coen brothers classics like “Fargo.” There are several bits of Hitchcock lurking in its off-kilter tale of how love and friendship can make dupes of us all.

“Pigeons” is smartly written (by Matt Healy) and stylishly directed (by David Dobkin), both making their feature debuts. It follows the fortunes (misfortunes is more like it) of an earnest if not particularly bright young man named Clay (the engaging Joaquin Phoenix) whose last name isn’t pigeon but might as well

be for all the times he plays the dupe.

Garage mechanic Clay and buddy Earl are out drinking beer and using the bottles for target practice when the talk gets serious: “I hear you’ve been sleeping with my wife,” Earl says. “Who told you?” “She did.”

Before Clay can talk his way out of that one, Earl has taken his own life, but not without terrifying Clay by telling him he’s making that death look like his erstwhile pal murdered him. (The reality, of course, is that gunshot suicides are much harder to fake than the film would have you believe, but if plausibility is a problem for you, you might as well leave now.)

Clay hopes for some sympathy from Amanda (Georgina Cates), the object of both men’s affections, but she refuses to help him explain things to amiable local Sheriff Mooney (Scott Wilson) and his sleepy deputy Barney (Vince Vieluf). Still, she continues to be so voracious in her sexual demands that Clay ends up slapping her in the local pool hall. Big mistake.

That slap gets the attention of Lester Long (Vince Vaughn), new in town and dressed to be noticed in flashy cowboy hat and shirt. As fake as Lester’s clothes are his friendliness, his sincerity and his sense of humor, but Clay, too hapless to notice, is so happy to have someone to talk to they end up going fishing together.

What happens at the lake ups the ante in this relationship, and Clay gradually realizes he’s in over his head more than usual. Gradually, without really thinking about it, he’s gotten himself involved in someone else’s plot and the scenario is way too complex for him to easily extricate himself.

Adding to Clay’s troubles is the arrival in town of laconic, ironic FBI Agent Dale Shelby, on the lookout for a serial killer responsible for the deaths of numerous women. Agent Shelby is played by the always-welcome Janeane Garofalo, whose deliciously blank style (“a murder scene is not crowd appropriate”) is perfectly tailored to the film’s attitude. Garofalo adds interest to all her scenes and she elevates Vaughn’s otherwise iffy work in the key moments she has with him.

“Clay Pigeons’ ” trademark is how quickly and without warning it moves from comedy to horror. Both director Dobkin and writer Healy have a nice feeling for this transition, and Dobkin, a protege of Ridley Scott who’s worked largely in videos and commercials, has a gift for counterpointing the action with unexpected music from an excellent soundtrack. Using Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now or Never” behind someone considering murder, for instance, is probably not what the King intended.

But as its excessively convoluted and implausible plot unfolds, “Clay Pigeons” keeps asking if style and attitude make up for excessive improbability and a baffling denouement. Not here it can’t, at least not for as long as it tries to. “You’ve got a sense of humor, I like that,” Lester Long proclaims at one point. Well, we all like that, but would it be asking too much to have a little coherence to go along with it?

* MPAA rating: R, for strong scenes of sexuality, language and violence. Times guidelines: sex scenes tend to turn violent.

‘Clay Pigeons’

Vince Vaughn: Lester Long

Janeane Garofalo: Agent Shelby

Joaquin Phoenix: Clay

Georgina Cates: Amanda

Scott Wilson: Sheriff Mooney

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment presents, in association with Intermedia Films, a Scott Free production, released by Grammercy Pictures. Director David Dobkin. Producers Ridley Scott, Chris Zarpas. Executive producers Tony Scott, Guy East, Nigel Sinclair. Screenplay Matt Healy. Cinematographer Eric Edwards. Editor Stan Salfas. Costumes Laura Goldsmith. Music John Lurie. Production design Clark Hunter. Art director Max Biscoe. Set decorator Tracy Kirshbaum. Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes.

* Selected theaters.