Customer Reviews

Women in Trouble [Blu-ray]

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

***1/2

An odd but strangely compelling indie comedy, "Women in Trouble" does just what the title suggests; it puts an assortment of lovely ladies into humorously dire predicaments. Two women, Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights") and the newly pregnant porn star Elektra (Carla Gogina), are stuck together in a stalled elevator; Adrianne Palicki (also of "Friday Night Lights") and Emmanuelle Chrichi are sex workers who witness a crime and have to run to safety; Sarah Clarke ("24") is a therapist whose husband ("The Mentalist"'s Simon Baker) is having an affair with one of her patients; and Marley Shelton is an engaged stewardess who's unfortunate enough to have the rock star (Josh Brolin) who's performing sex on her in the airplane bathroom die when the plane hits turbulence. The storylines, which seem disparate at first glance, do manage to dovetail into one another by movie's end.

As written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, the situations are played for both humor and sentiment, as we get to see just some of the absurd things women are forced to go through on a daily basis. And in each case, it seems, the women who are "in trouble" are aided by other women who are in trouble, essentially leading to a special bond of womanhood that helps get them through tough times. The dialogue is generally sharp and witty without ever becoming denigrating or smart-alecky, and the situations the women find themselves in are just absurd enough to keep them from becoming soap-operatic but realistic enough to make us care.

As with most movies that engage in multiple plotlines, some of the stories and some of the scenes are better than others, and, honestly, the film might have benefited from a little less cleverness and a little more focus overall. Still, it has its moments.

True to its title, 2009's "Women In Trouble" is about a bunch of women with an assortment of trouble. The film begins with two women inside a Mexican jail, which turns out to be a film-with-a-film parody sequence of an exploitation movie. You eventually realize that the whole 90 minute feature is self-reflexive parody; although much more subtle than the opening.

Think the Coen Brothers with group of characters speaking out-of-place dialogue in a lot of unusual situations. Think Seinfeld with a lot of disparate pieces in some way related to each other, with the connections eventually coming into focus. Think "The Hours" (2002) with a group of vaguely uneasy women exploring the mysteries of female discontent and finding some solace from shared confidences.

Not a lot of physical humor, nor good acting, nor impressive production design. The writing is the strength of the production and it is excellent. If you don't get subtle parody you would be wise to stay away because there isn't much here for you. You are not the target audience. The only exception would be Marley Shelton fans. She has a very entertaining and clever 10-minute sequence, and looks incredibly hot in a tight flight attendant uniform. For her fans this is a must see even if most of the other material should not happen to be quite their cup of tea.

Those knocking the film simply failed to make the necessary connection with the material, so I wouldn't put much stock in the negative comments and reviews unless they are from someone who tends to mirror your own preferences.

Special features on the DVD includes deleted scenes, a satirical interview that runs after the credits, and Spanish subtitles; given the audio quality and the essential importance of the dialogue the money would have been much better spent on English subtitles.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

What a pleasant surprise this movie was! Many efforts have been made in crafting films with several parallel stories taking place at the same time, with each one connected at the end. In most cases, the results have been either disastrous or unsatisfactory. This is definitely not the case with "Women in Trouble," a funny and delicious movie that you will truly savor from beginning to end.

Exquisitely directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, in this film you'll find a story about a top porn actress that gets pregnant, a rock star trying to have sex with an attractive flight attendant, two women trapped in an elevator, another porn star that witness a crime, a man that is cheating on his wife, and much more. Believe it or not, all these stories and their characters are connected and make sense in the end. I haven't seen such ability in making sense of so many issues at one time in a movie, in such a wise way, since Pedro Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." I guarantee that you will love this movie.

"Women in Trouble" is loaded with award-winning performances, which include Carla Gigino, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Isabella Gutierrez, Josh Brolin, Simon Baker, Elizabeth Berkley, and more. The Blue-ray edition of this film includes deleted scenes, teaser trailers, and more. (USA, 2009, color, 90 min plus additional materials)

Reviewed by Eric Gonzalez for [...] on February 15, 2010.

I loved this movie.
There was a gaping, psychological plot hole concerning a 13 year old girl's revelations to her therapist that spawn real danger. The girl had no guilt for precipitating near-catastrophes, and no one was angry at her for outing the truth. Other than that, the movie is a flawless, gorgeous romp, a film that had I seen as a youth might have changed me a lot. Imagine! A movie in which women are real, sexual people who are kind to each other, and in which men are really vapid - there was no such representation in culture in 1963. It was a "Mad Men" world.
On the other hand, I notice than a man wrote the movie, and that no women have reviewed the film yet. Does this movie merely subtly pander to how a man wants women to be (the movie sure makes me happy), or might women enjoy and identify with the film? I hope to read thoughtful comments from members of the other gender.

Going into this film, I wasn't sure if this was something I could get into.
I honestly watched it only because I've become a big fan of Joseph Gordon Levitt's work and it was available to instantly stream on netflix.(Which by-the-way, if that's also your motive you might just want to fast-forward to the end of the credits and save yourself some time) So another night alone at home was nigh and it just seemed that 'Women in Trouble' and I were meant to be.

A good twenty minutes into the film and I was thinking "oh well" it doesn't seem like I'm going to be able to endure this. However don't be quick to judge, there is something about this low-budget, slightly socially un-acceptable film that ends-up being really kind of enjoyable.

Part coming-of-age tale, part romantic comedy/chick flick and a good dash of something raw that feels straight out of Sundance.

The intertwined stories of Elektra Luxx(Gugino) a pornstar's impending pregnancy and Maxine McPherson(Sarah Clarke)'s discovery of her cheating husband Travis(Simon Baker) have the most hear in the film, really making you feel for them in a time of need.(Something I personally find hard to come by with most films nowadays)


Starring the beautiful Carla Gugino and Emmanuelle Chriqui (among many others) this movie is a twist of both harsh, dingy reality and the ideas of modern society & love.

Different women of different walks of life met each other in extreme circumstances and shared their intimate experiences as well as an intimacy each with other.

Not much to lose if not watching.

I had fun researching all of the trivia with this film: actor crossovers (Friday Night Lights, Mentalist, 24), an introduction of five characters for an upcoming movie (Elektra Luxx) and comparing actual screen time with who gets front billing. The performances by the ladies were strong and believable, but I thought Josh Brolin and Joseph Gordon Levitt had a couple of great 4-minute rolls. Simon Baker is given first bill on the cover but his was more of an absentee fill-in, and Xander Berkeley (24) is given first list here, but he only gets a few lines (half of his stuff was deleted). And one of the strongest performances in the film is not even given credit (anywhere) in the teen daughter seeking therapy for her imaginary world.

The story follows twelve ladies and one girl during a single day as their lives loosely intertwine in unforeseen and sometimes tragic and emotional ways. The cover art would have you think this has a kind of Sex in the City connection (all of the gals together in a group shot laughing) when in actuality they are all never in the same shot or thread. A few men percolate two of the stories, but the best male performance is not until after the credits roll with JGL, so be sure to wait - the reason I am advising you is to hopefully save anyone else from doing what I did: the credits are listed in order of appearance with JGL being listed as the last character - so I kept backing up the film and pausing it to see if his was a brief cameo I had missed. I gave up thinking it had been deleted then voila - a brief interview sequence right before the DVD ends. The characters are all strong in their own ways, and the screen time is split as evenly as possible for what they wrote - but in the end this is more of an introduction piece for the next movie so the main five focused on are (and fans of these ladies might in turn want to watch this) Gutierrez, Gugino, Kihlstedt, Chriqui, and Shelton. This keeps getting plugged as "hilarious" (three times on the cover), but honestly this is a drama with one funny scene that involves Brolin's "member at attention" and a hysterical flight attendant.

The BD quality is mixed, with the picture changing quality depending on the sequence/storyline. The sound faltered only a few times, but turning up the volume would be a mistake as the six or seven story separations are hyphenated with a burst of loud sounds that can deafen, coupled with a barrage of abrupt visuals like a retro/70s film stop. The supplements are brief and barely watchable, including:

* Deleted scenes, several totaling less than 10 minutes - all of therapy sessions, truly irrelevant to the film, glad they were cut (but it does include more of Xander).
* Behind the scenes, 1 minute. A brief interview with the two main characters trying to describe the film - pretty bad.
* Teaser Trailer, 1 minute. A few of the main gals doing erotic dancing while clothed in a pool - was interesting, if anything just to see Chriqui doing something out of her usual character.

Region coded A, with Spanish subtitles. Rated R for dialogue and Brolin's scene. Not a bad film, but the lack of any real Blu qualities keeps it at a 3.5 star product - it could easily be a four or five star if time had been invested in the BD.

Bottom-Line: Skip it.

Women in Trouble (2009)
Directed by: Sebastian Guitierrez
Screenplay: Charles Leavitt, Robert Gallagher
Principles: Carla Gugino, Xander Berkeley, Elizabeth Berkley, Josh Brolin, Simon Baker, Adrianna Palicki, Connie Britton, Sarah Clarke, Emmanuelle Chriqui
Running Time: 90 minutes
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: "R"

There is something very disconcerting about Women In Trouble (2009), and that is it blatant objectification of women. But in this movie is it not even grown-up objectification, it is juvenile, unashamedly contrived, and well, insulting to us--the viewer--and to the women who agreed to sign on to this very light porn film.

My Thoughts

Where do I begin? The only reason I watched Women In Trouble is because I love, love, love, Carla Gugino. She is the rare actress that can inhabit any role put before her. She refuses to be type-cast and so her body of work runs the gambit. But, Women In Trouble Carla seriously? From Sin City and The Watchman to this?

The movie does gather together some impressive talent, but I failed to see the point. For a comedy Women In Trouble was not at all funny, it was tragic, but not funny. The movie seems to serve as nothing more than a vehicle for seeing some very love ladies in the underwear; indeed almost all of women eventually stripped down to their intimate apparel, the trick for writer director Sebastian Guitierrez is how he could contrive to get them there. Not that I did not enjoy the view, but a credible story to accompany all that skin and cleavage would have been less insulting to my intelligence and the ladies involved in this movie that belongs on Max At Night and not on the silver screen.

Gugino, as usual turns in a fine performance as the porn star with a growing belly. And Connie Britton, always under-rated was enjoyable to watch as well; this despite the utter lack of character development. The two men in Women In Trouble are pretty much walking stereotypes, the embodiment of how every women's magazine see men, and this may go a long way towards explaining the flatness of the screenplay.

There is no conflict on note in Women in Trouble. The characters are not varied and there is no one--not even Carla--that inspires you to invest an emotion, be it love or hate in any persona. There is no yin and yang, no high or lows, only women who deal with issues (in their underwear) and men who cause issues.

But if you want to see Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Catlin Keats, Sarah Clarke, Marley Shelton, and Emmanuelle Chriqui in their underwear for prolonged periods of time, then Women In Trouble is the movie for you.

the trailer was very misleading, where the pace of the movie was incredibly slow. there are some interesting scenes with carla gugino, but the scene between the two pornstars is very campy, and also the blonde lesbian is very unconvincing--it made me feel like i was watching fake les porn (even tho there's no hardcore or even soft scenes. it was very cheap), which is a shame, since the rest of the movie could have had more substance (i.e. the scene with kid tricking the pyschologist--the character of the kid was most interesting, probably since she's not corrupted yet as the others).

There are some funny raw sex jokes. They make some scenes worth watching.
The majority of the scenes are dragging. The plot leads to nowhere. The plot leads to nowhere. Overall, it's not worth it.