Customer Reviews

Nothing But Trouble [VHS]

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

FIRST OFF: WHY LOVE OR HATE THIS FILM?

Even in our household the opinions are divided on this one. I'm giving it a 4 [instead of a 5] in recognition of everyone else in our family who can't stand to see this film.

IN A NUTSHELL: 'NOTHING BUT TROUBLE' IS NOTHING BUT RIDICULOUS

'Nothing But Trouble' features John Candy, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, and Demi Moore, with Aykroyd and Candy actually playing two roles each. Candy plays a strange female mute, Eldona, in addition to Sheriff Dennis and Aykroyd plays 'J.P.' the hanging judge and 'Bobo', a huge outdoor only frankenstein-esque relative. This is a film that is obviously a bit too over-the-top for many viewers and also a bit on the gross side for many others. Nevertheless, it strikes me as a very goofy film that features three of my favorite comedians [Akyroyd, Chase & Candy], so obviously I am going to like the film. Nevertheless, I liked 'Nothing But Trouble' enough to add a DVD to my collection where I already had several video copies of the film.

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: [could be plot spoilers below]

Chris Thorne [Chevy Chase] takes a detour off the N.J. Turnpike to see some of the scenery and accidentally goes through a stop sign in the Village of Valkenvania and right into the twilight zone.

After a rather absurd chase scene Thorne is apprehended by Dennis [Candy], and along with his eclectic party, is escorted to the Village Reeve, 'J.P.' and into custody for an indefinite stay. Their stay in custody is punctuated by strange people behaving rather strangely while Thorne tries to wise crack his way to freedom, never really taking the gravity of the situation seriously. In fact, they are all in danger of being executed, because that is the usual punishment for bankers, which Thorne has been labeled, as well as for other undesirables.

By the time Thorne realizes that he and his party may never leave the judge's custody, it may be too late to do anything to save Diane Lightston [Demi Moore] and himself from being executed. To escape this plight is what this film is all about. It is silly, perhaps too silly to be taken seriously.

WHY SOME IN OUR HOUSEHOLD DON'T SHARE MY FONDNESS FOR THIS FILM:

I do enjoy this film, but many others in our household do not share my opinion. They feel that there are scenes that are gross for the no good reason and that the film is silly in a way that seems unmotivated. Also, Demi Moore seems to have been included for window dressing rather than as a serious female lead, which she is quite capable of delivering.

ABOUT THE DVD: NO SPECIAL FEATURES BUT IT PLAYS BETTER THAN THE VHS EDITION

This DVD plays quite well and is in Full-Screen Format. With the exception of 'Scene Selections' there are NO Special Features whatsoever, which was a big disappointment for me, since I was hoping at least to have a commentary track by the Director and Star, Dan Aykroyd.

It scares the crap out of me, actually. It's not so much a comedy as the embodying fear of being trapped in a nightmarish junk house populated my mutants, psychos and Chevy Chase. It's not what you would expect from the usual Aykroyd or Chase movie, but it is surreal and unique.

Once again, Warner Bros. has successfully offended me by putting another one of my favorites on DVD in a low-quality pan & scan disc. They really need to stop blowing off their movies with cruddy DVDs like this. If they have so little respect for these movies they shouldn't have greenlit the projects in the first place. Hear me, Warners? You should be ashamed. I find myself regetting that other studios did not release these movies. If New Line had released it, this film would have gotten proper digital video disc treatment. Or even Paramount for that matter.
But to get to the film at hand. I must say that my four star rating (this is for the actual movie) is a bit biased. This film barely makes three stars, but I am quite fond of it. It never did well and most people have forgotten it. But I have fond memories of it. It's a clever little movie that gives a nod to the black humour of "rural" horror films of the past such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That backwoods American gothic vibe is very prevalent here as a group of wandering yuppies stumble upon a roughneck family controlling a small town in the sticks. But mind you, this is more or less a pretty lighthearted movie. John Candy takes a double role as the town Sheriff and The Judge's daughter. The Judge, played with complete and utter excellence by Dan Akroyd, takes the supreme chair in the crumbling mansion that doubles as the town hall. And Demi Moor and Chevy Chase are just fine as the well-meaning yuppies. The jokes are not sophisticated (laughs are derived from such things as gross food to the dirty living conditions of the old Judge) but they come often enough to keep the wheels rolling. All in all, a well-done little movie that I truly think deserves the label "under-rated". Now, if only I could say the same about Warner.

Are you guys insane?

I'm a fan of Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd and John Candy. When these actors have/had a good script, they could be very funny. In fact, a lot of my favorite movies have one of the three. This is why I was looking forward to seeing this movie when it can out on video years ago. My brother and I rented it, and proceeded to laugh not once during this worthless excuse for a movie.

This is one of those movies that you just look at the other person watching it and shake your heads in disbelief. I have no idea who thought this movie would be good, but everyone involved in it should apologize. In fact, the only reason to own this movie is to laugh at how bad it is.

Chris Thorne (Chevy Chase) is a stock market whiz who needs to attend a buisness meeting. He agrees to take Diane Lightson (Demi Moore, in her last comic role before she, like Tome Hanks, went on to roles that only won her Oscars.) to Atlantic City along with a bizarre couple, and becomes smitten. However, after a pass through the desolate village of Valkenvania (the working title of the film), that will have to be put on the back burner. You see, Chris has been pulled over for a minor traffic violation, and he, with the rest of the occupants, is hauled off to the house of Justice of the Peace Alvin Valkenheiser (Dan Aykroyd) for a trial. Can Chris, Diane, and the rest of the group escape before they become just another news story and memory?

I agree with the critics on one thing: this is not the stars' finest hour. They turn in good performances for the average script they are given, but the agreeing stops there. This is a surreal, strange, and fun way to kill an hour and a half. Memorable moments include a drug using quartet getting sent into "Mr. Bonestripper", a machine that looks like a guy and has jagged metal pistons for teeth. They go in, their bones come out and hit the walls with the sounds of a pinball machine. Another one is the appearance of the band Digital Underground (for all you rap fans out there, this is a rare movie appearance of Tupac Shakur) as a band hauled in by the JP, who joins in (on organ)with their chart-topper, "Same Song". The DVD I picked up in a bargian bin (I'm a cheapskate, I know), and no surprise why: It's an early Warner one, with sub-par full frame video and adequate sound, but NO EXTRAS! Unless you see this DVD in a bragain bin, get the video. As is the case with many movies, good movie, subpar DVD.

NOTHING BUT TROUBLE
(1991, PG-13)

Chris Thorne: Chevy Chase
Judge Alvin "JP" Valkenheiser\Bobo Valkenheiser: Dan Aykroyd
Dennis Valkenheiser\ Eldonna Valkenheiser: John Candy
Diane Lightson: Demi Moore
Miss Purdah: Valri Bromfield
Fausto: Taylor Negron

Director: Dan Aykroyd
Writers: Peter Aykroyd (story), Dan Aykroyd (screenplay)

MOVIE: 4
VIDEO: 3
AUDIO: 3
EXTRAS: 0
MENUS: 1
OVERALL: 3

It's always: how to come down on this one? Is this film an unbelievably schlocky, poorly acted, horribly scripted, under-budgeted, lamely produced film striving for transcendent comedy? Or is it the blackest of black humor, the wacky, loopy side of mass murder and extra-judicial killing a la Eating Raoul? I just dunno, but every time this thing pops on cable I'm there for the duration. Before I know it the end titles roll and I'm confused and conflicted, and giddy that it's over.

First, Chevy Chase as the headlining straight man? After his best in Caddyshack and Fletch? It's like director Aykroyd is setting him up for failure, and Chase appears to bristle at it through the entire film.

For historical novelty we've got the pre-"Deh-Mee" Moore, back when she was normal, even attractive, despite that horrible pasty-white makeup they've piled on her, somehow missing her neck, shoulders and chest. Her off-white outfit is just as nonsensical, with those so stupid post-80s half-heeled pumps, the lame semi-formal dress shorts, and the faux country club halter.

And then there's John Candy as a self-loathing deputy somehow turned hero, as well as mute drag-queen. His incarnation as Eldona is the only interesting character in the whole film. His Dennis character finds escape with the tacky Latins to Brazil, but what of redemption? What of his direct and knowing complicity in the hundreds of extra-judicial murders over the years? Does the fact that he leaves Aykroyd and Demi to their fates compromise his redemption?

Who other than me notices early in the film, after that excruciatingly lame, low-budge, non-high-speed chase that beautiful southeastern California landscape through which they tour? Note the dry creek beds, the eucalyptus trees, the barren brown mountains in the distant sunset background--this is New Jersey? And on they travel, through the desert scrub, the pinon pines, down the dry washes and through the beautifully wooded vales that I remember so well as the bucolic Hazzard County of yore. Awful.

Okay, a forgotten "shire" in "rural" New Jersey, just off the interstate between NYC and Atlantic City, where a coal fire has been burning for decades? Who thought up this garbage, and what producers swallowed it? Check the facts; NJ doesn't produce coal.

And what's with the Rube Goldberg house, the slides the go and go but still end up in the house? Who loads the traps and maintains them? What are the piles of bones doing in the house? Why are they all femurs? Where are the humerusses, the ulnas, the scapulae?

Note the young and thankfully dialog-less Tupac, and the so unfairly busted Digital Underground homies. It's clear in this overly long vignette that the DU's label coughed up plenty so the band could badly lip-sync their hit. And just like in Doctor Detroit and The Blues Brothers, Aykroyd can't pass up the opportunity to show us how terribly down he is with black music culture by having his feeble and shaky-handed JP suddenly belt out a wicked-cool organ solo as the video bimbos paw him like he was wearing a suit made of cocaine and cash. Puh-leeze.

And then there're the two mutant diaper-babies, Li'l Debbull and Bobo (one of them is Aykroyd), so obviously latex bodysuits, utterly unlikable and truly grotesque. Are they supposed to be cute, the lovably disgusting successors to Sloth in The Goonies? Are we to feel some kind of deep moral dilemma of whether we should like them or not? They're filthy, neglected, with full, sagging diapers. They're both clearly clinical morons, and have been left to fend for themselves in the junkyard, which says a great deal about the overall Valkenvania approach to child-rearing.

And finally, Aykroyd. This was his first and only directing effort, and you can tell why. There have been many interviews in which he's laid blame on the script, upon the unwillingness of the producers to give him what he wanted, the subtle shots at the actors and their performances (he's top-billed), and even the fact that the working title of "Valkenvania" was not used as the release title. Yeah, like these were reasons this film tanked.

And, please, someone, what is with the JP's nose? Just what in the name of St. Alfonso's pancake breakfast is that thing all about? Is it just a really, really bad sight gag, or is thee some kind of deeply mystical significance that is escaping me?

And at the end we are caught in the big joke, that all of New Jersey law enforcement knows about Valkenvania and have been in on the grand conspiracy for years, apparently fully aware of the JP's extra-judicial killings. As they swarm the building, it's sadly right out of "Blues Brothers," the only thing missing is the troopers yelling "Hut, hut, hut, hut!" as they advance clumsily all over the compound.

There is one thing I like, though: the shot where fleeing Demi is in the forest of scrapped Mr. Muffler signs. Their sheer size, grinning faces, outstretched arms devoid of their beloved oversized car parts is some very nice composition, surreal, eerie and menacing, highly reminiscent of Tim Burton's nod in Mars Attacks! to the unplugged glamour and glory of the old Glitter Gulch in Vegas when he has Danny DeVito, Tom Jones, Jim Brown, and Annette Benning flee through the marquee graveyard.

Bottom line: this film seems to be an interesting black comedy concept which somehow took on a life of its own. It's a last-gasp 80s kind of thing, with Aykroyd going so obviously back to wells which have been emptied already, by him and prior co-stars. Overall, it's a serious stinker, but it's still got enough wacky train-wreck mojo to pull me in, every single flippin' time.

Regardless of whether one liked or disliked this movie, I think we can all agree that one has to be in a certain frame of mind to watch it and possibly get anything out of it. If you're looking for an intellectually stimulating movie, avoid this one at all costs. This isn't its purpose. But if you're in the mood to just wind down a bit and watch a goofy, crazy flick, it might be for you.

Ok, so the plot is dumb. But the great cast do a nice job with what they're given. Dan Aykroyd's character was my least favorite one but he was entertaining as the impossibly-old judge. Chevy Chase was good as he usually is with his witty and funny one-liners. The always sexy Demi Moore was very pleasing to watch indeed. And then there's John Candy, the reason I bought this movie (I'm a John Candy completist). As always, he was great.

But getting back to basics: Is this movie Oscar-worthy? Far from it. Will it change your life? No. Will it entertain you? Possibly, if you can look past its absurdity and the stigma that movies like this usually revolve around...

On a side note, pick up Nothing But Trouble's soundtrack if you ever find it (I believe it's out of print now). While ecclectic in its musical selections, it's a fine soundtrack.

To conclude, I give Nothing But Trouble 3 stars and add another just for John Candy (yes, I'm a die-hard fan).

This was a film that I loved as a child. Along with "Big", "The Burbs", "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and a half a dozen others, if this film was on TV, I would stop everything and see it to its end. Generally, as I get older, I rarely watch a film more than 1 or 2 times. But these films of my childhood I have seen at least a dozen times. After not seeing this movie for at least eight years or so, I was surprised to see how much I remembered and even more surprised to see how much I just didn't "get" as a child.

The obvious that I never realized as a child: the judge's [...]-shaped nose, the hot dog the judge sloppily ate, Chevy Chase's sweet talking to Demi Moore, Tupac Shakur's cameo...etc.

The not-so-obvious was how totally messed up, sociopathic, criminally insane, whacked out of their skulls, the judge's family was. Wow, was this one freaky movie, no wonder I liked it so much as a kid.

Surely, as I watched it with a slightly maturer mind, I did not feel it was as exciting as I used to think it was. In fact, I am pretty sure that anyone who has not yet scene this movie and sees it today, will most probably think that this is a horrible film. However for those whom this film remains a part of their childhood, for [...] new or a [...] used on Amazon, I think its a good deal.

Oh and by the way, the ending to this film really stinks.

For film junkies, Peter Aykroyd, Dan Aykroyd's younger brother, wrote the story for this film. Dan Aykroyd wrote the screenplay.

Maybe I am the only one, but I would like some new films with Chevy Chase in them. New Dan Aykroyd films would be nice too.

I notice that a lot of people either love or despise this film. Personally, I really liked it. The plot was fun, the scenary was great and many of the actors in it are people I hadn't seen in a movie in years. Ackroyd as a warped machanical genius set up in his own little Shire, hidden somewhere in the backwoods of New Jersey? Yeah, it doesn't make much sense but it does make for a few good laughs.

I love this movie because it had a great cast and as many people have pointed out, is absolutely dumb entertainment.
I would say it is along the same lines as Scary Movie, but that wouldnt really be giving Nothing but trouble, justice.
What's funny is if you watch it quite a few times you notice different little things about the movie.
Mindless, dumb and hilarious!