Nothing But Trouble 1991

In my review of Big Trouble In Little China, I talked about a connection to Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Here are two films from the dawn of the post-Spielberg/Lucas multiplex era of Hollywood, both made by 70s genre madmen and both made completely surreal by their sloppiness, bloated budgets and a zaniness that is perceived to be a post-Reagan cocaine mania. Let me complete the trilogy by adding Dan Aykroyd's 1991 horror-satire "Nothing But Trouble" to create a very bizarre marathon of films that closed the generational revolution in 1970s/1980s mainstream cinema.

Big Trouble and Chainsaw 2 have become loudly embraced online by cult film enthusiasts, but not so for Nothing But Trouble. Reasons being those previous films are closely associated 1980s adolescence, they both belong to very film nerd-friendly genres and were directed by very popular cult directors. We're still waiting for a re-appreciation of Bush Era cinema, mainstream comedy bombs by SNL alum and no one really examines Dan Aykroyd's one-off directing job because Aykroyd is mostly obscure to young people outside of Ghostbusters, Tommy Boy and maybe My Girl.

Which is a shame because Dan Aykroyd is the most enigmatic, cerebral and undervalued of the first generation of SNL stars. Frankly, he had the strongest career in the 1990s as Chevy Chase and Bill Murray's stars were fading fast. He branched out into broader roles in Driving Miss Daisy and carried a very ambitious film version of The Coneheads (what could be argued as the best SNL film adaptation against Wayne's World). But as Bill Murray reinvented himself in Wes Anderson movies and Chevy Chase gained a fratboy cult thanks to Fletch reruns, Aykroyd all but retired to focus on UFOS, vodka and Hard Rock Cafe. After Blues Brothers 2000, many comedy fans forgot how valuable Aykroyd was to his generation.

Nothing But Trouble is the best film evidence of Ayroyd's immense talent and uniqueness. It seems like a a last Fuck You from a maturing rebel who has one chance at sharing his vision. Dan Aykroyd had a good career in the 1980s, but never captured the fire, weight and popularity he had on SNL. Chase and Murray became cool anti-authoritarian clowns who carried blockbusters but Aykroyd was usually cast as the sidekick or straight man, typically to his SNL or Second City friends. And he was great at it. The Great Outdoors, Spies Like Us, Dragnet, Neighbors, Caddyshack 2. He was also the only star to write the scripts he performed (as he did on SNL). Maybe the nice guy who always finished last needed to rack up enough good merit and favors because Nothing But Trouble is a very surprising directorial debut in every conceivable way.

First off its produced by Warner Bros with a titanic production, a totally un-commercial script and an HUGE star in Demi Moore. For the unitiated, this film contains: giant obese men in diapers, a carnival ride that removes flesh from living human beings, John Candy as a woman, a penis nose, a removed nose, bed pan humor and a lengthy rap performance featuring a teenage 2Pac. Even at its most grotesque or subversive, its all presented in a cartoon fashion. Its very similar to TCM2 in what it satirizes - conservative politics, yuppies, older men/younger women dynamics, dysfunctional families, rednecks, drug abuse, law enforcement, mental illness, greed and the American value system. I wouldn't be shocked if Dan was a big TCM2 fan or friend of Tobe Hooper. And the film is very reminiscent of Big Trouble in that its a schizophrenic mishmash of wildly different genres, this time being The Goonies, screwball Cary Grant comedies, John Waters shock comedies and rural horror movies like Spider Baby. Like TCM2 and BTILC, NBT doesn't really work. Its derivative, half-baked and poorly edited, but you can tell a lot of passion went into this and a lot of fun was had making this. The "What the fuck am I watching?" factor is high and the very game actors had to 2nd guess the material and then fully commit to the fun and weirdness and it pays off.

But Dan Aykroyd carries the entire film with his performance as the disgusting but charming antagonist. He's covered in prosthetics in TWO roles and its obvious he wanted to play every role in the film. The other characters are really after thoughts to tie scenes together and are actually underutilized. When it finally takes off, NBT is a string of Aykroyd skits that really echo his best SNL work, unlike everything else in his film career. This is the awkward, confrontational, bizarre, grotesque, outsider comedy that made him standout from the pack as the friendliest weirdo and a kind of comic chameleon. The movie is padded with very sophomoric, self-indulgent slapstick and Aykroyd's patented surreal lingustic showboating, but how its tied together in something resembling a meaningful whole is impressive. Its light, inoffensive and totally surprising cinema. Some may not get it or even like it, but who could hate it?

BTW Chevy Chase still had a big name and looks pretty fantastic here, so its a coup that he signed on but its no surprise. Chase seems to be Aykroyd's life partner even if Belushi was his one true love and Bill Murray his most successful romance. They worked together on Spies Like Us, Caddyshack 2 and Aykroyd was one of Chase's biggest supporters in the tumultuous first 5 years of SNL. NBT offers Chevy one if not his last leading man roles (as did John Carpenter's Memoirs of an Invisible Man - another Big Trouble connection). Wikipedia has this to say:

According to one biography, Chase "knew that the film was going to be the worst film he would ever make", but because of his friendship with Aykroyd, he accepted the role of Chris Thorne.^[4] Reflecting on the film some years later, it was noted as an "unfortunate turning point" in Aykroyd's career that, as the director, writer and star, left "only (Aykroyd) to blame for the film's spectacular failure".^[5]

Unfortunate that it probably ended their partnership and probably hurt their friendship. I would be very interested in seeing where Aykroyd's directing went next and I think its a gem in both of their careers. Nothing But Trouble probably ended both of their careers as Hollywood players, but it shows Chase wasn't always a selfish diva and that Aykroyd never lost his edge. I wonder if they realize this legendary bomb has become, at least in my family, a very beloved little film. I hope fan support grows for it and Aykroyd and Chase can make peace with it.