Klute (15)

Jane Fonda’s career-defining performance enriches Alan Pakula’s gritty New Hollywood thriller classic.

Set against the the unforgiving landscape of 1970’s New York, the film follows Bree Daniel (Fonda), a call girl working in the city who finds herself entangled in a case involving the disappearance of a high-profile business executive. Detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) is assigned to shadow her, and as their professional relationship evolves into a romantic one, it becomes evident that Bree is not the only one being pursued. As the threat against her intensifies, Bree and Klute must uncover who is after her before time runs out.

The film is meticulously made, offering a swirling, nail-biting atmosphere of tension. Pakula's greatest films feature phenomenal female leads. Like those before her, this is really a Jane Fonda picture, and it's impossible to forget it. Calling her performance powerhouse would be a grand understatement. Sutherland is on top form, too, playing the gentle small-town detective who teaches her the difference between love and sex as he closes in on the killer.

Klute captures its era with an undeniable, surging energy. It’s a cliché, but they simply don’t make thrillers like this anymore.