Review of Clear Lake, WI

CLEAR LAKE, WI is one of those low-budget movies which actually would have benefited from the Hollywood scourge of "too many chefs" which plagues many big-budget flicks. Specifically, the absence of top-notch film editors and script supervisors from the crew of a movie like CLEAR LAKE sometimes allows the primary plot twist to get lost in the shuffle. Maybe the twist is ADDED in post-production, through a patchwork of throwaway material better LEFT on the cutting room floor. Maybe the twist was left for the last day or two of filming by rookie writers\directors who didn't know any better--not realizing that their project inevitably would fall three or four days behind the shooting schedule, leaving little or no time to actually put the pivotal scene of their story on film. CLEAR LAKE seemingly suffers from this syndrome, as the identity of the real killer for the plot's first set of murders is revealed by Michael Madsen's imprisoned bogus "Reverend" character in a postscript line of dialog captured on a hand- held a year after principle filming wrapped (according to the DVD featurettes). Bottom line: the best to be hoped for from this CLEAR LAKE is that it will become Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's OWN PRIVATE ELBA after he's recalled later this year (i.e., an island of exile for a deposed emperor).