Title: MAN TROUBLE
Date: 6/15/1995; Publication: Magill's Survey of Cinema;
Magill's Survey of Cinema
06-15-1995
MAN TROUBLE
Abstract:
Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin star in this weak comedy about a guard dog
trainer and an opera singer who, although leery about romance, gingerly enter
into an affair when he is hired to protect her.
Summary:
Joan Spruance (Ellen Barkin) is a soprano soloist with the Lewis Duart Master
Chorale, the director of which (David Clennon) used to be her husband and now
treats her with great enmity. One night after returning home from a rehearsal,
Joan finds her apartment ransacked and moves into her sister Andy's house while
Andy (Beverly D'Angelo) checks into a hospital for minor surgery before going
to
Soon threatening messages are being left on Joan's answering machine, a strange
gardener leers through her window, and her neighborhood is being stalked by a
so-called West Side Slasher who has killed six victims so far. Joan decides to
employ the services of Harry Bliss (Jack Nicholson) and his trained attack
dogs. When the financially strapped Harry "sells" his dog Duke to
Joan, he senses a potentially rich customer and tries to con her, but his
hustle turns to romance.
Harry runs his guard dog operation out of a building owned by his wife, whom he
refuses to call by her right name and instead refers to as "
Besides the fact that Harry is married, Joan also does not know that he has
been offered money to procure a manuscript sent to her by Andy. Her sister has
written a tell-all book about her life with Red Layls (Harry Dean Stanton), one
of the six richest people in the world. When Andy suddenly disappears from the
hospital, Joan again turns to Harry for help. Now she must fight not only
against whoever is out stalking her but also against the forces of the unscrupulously
wealthy Red Layls.
MAN TROUBLE was a film of great promise. It reunited the director (Bob
Rafelson), the writer (Carole Eastman), and the actor (Nicholson) who teamed
together in 1970 to produce the classic FIVE EASY PIECES. MAN TROUBLE, however,
is a stunning disappointment. While this story, like FIVE EASY PIECES, is also
set against a background of classical music, it lacks the wit, the dialogue,
the characters, and even the incisive social observations that made FIVE EASY
PIECES such a delight. Even MAN TROUBLE's weak 1960's-style animated opening
credits are an indication of the disappointment to come.
MAN TROUBLE's story is very artificial and slight, and it contains a
distracting subplot. The setups for the action are often carelessly laid, and
the story's tempo is heavy-handed at best, which is aggravated by careless
editing and gaping holes in the plot's logic. The dialogue is mostly ludicrous
and often badly looped. The film vacillates between being a romance, a comedy,
and a mystery and as a consequence is none of the above. Barkin and Nicholson
have no romantic sparks on the screen, and slapstick has replaced engaging
humor or dry wit. The mystery itself is easily penetrated by the audience.
Director Rafelson, who had last filmed the epic MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON (1990),
does not seem to have a flair for humor, and it is rumored that there were
often fights on the set between Rafelson and writer Carole Eastman.
It is unusual for actors as good as Nicholson, Barkin, and D'Angelo to overindulge
themselves to the degree that they do in this film,
but such performances are the result of ill-defined characters. The audience
does not know if Harry Bliss is intelligent or dimwitted. Nevertheless, it is
Barkin's character that is the most annoying. Joan Spruance's prim walk,
sheepish smile, and helpless ways remind one of a less-dynamic Blanche Dubois,
from A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. In fact, MAN TROUBLE is offensive in its
portrayal of women, which is difficult to accept because it was written by one.
MAN TROUBLE was a part of a three-picture deal between PentAmerica and
Twentieth Century-Fox. The first film was 1991's flop FOLKS!,
starring Tom Selleck, and this was the second. Twentieth Century-Fox did not
provide advance screenings for critics, which is usually a sign that a studio
does not have much faith in its film. MAN TROUBLE was released at only one
thousand theaters and appears to have been withdrawn after two weeks. (Reviewed by Beverley Bare Buehrer.)
Country of Origin: USA
Release Date: 1992
Production Line:
Bruce Gilbert and Carole Eastman for Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Silvio
Berlusconi, Penta Pictures, and American Filmworks/Budding Grove; released by
Twentieth Century-Fox
Director: Bob Rafelson
Cinematographer: Stephen H. Burum
File Editor: William Steinkamp
Additional Credits:
Production design - Mel Bourne
Set decoration - Samara Schaffer
Casting - Terry Liebling
Sound - David Ronne
Costume design - Judy Ruskin
Music - Georges Delerue
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 100 minutes
Cast:
Harry Bliss - Jack Nicholson
Joan Spruance - Ellen Barkin
Redmond Layls - Harry Dean Stanton
Andy Ellerman - Beverly D'Angelo
Eddy Revere - Michael McKean
Laurence Moncrief - Saul Rubinek
June Huff - Viveka Davis
Helen Dextra - Veronica Cartwright
Lewie Duart - David Clennon
Detective Melvenos - John Kapelos
Adele Bliss - Lauren Tom
Lee MacGreevy - Paul Mazursky
Butch Gable - Gary Graham
Socorro - Betty Carvalho
Sonya - Mary Robin Redd
Review Sources:
Boxoffice. October, 1992, p. R-72.
Entertainment Weekly. July 31, 1992,
p. 37.
The
The New York Times. July 18, 1992,
p. 14.
People Weekly. August 3, 1992, p.
10.
Time. July 27, 1992, p. 73.
Variety. July 20, 1992, p. 2.
Named persons in Production Credits:
Bruce Gilbert
Carole Eastman
Mario Cecchi Gori
Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Silvio Berlusconi
Studios named in Production Credits:
Penta Pictures
American Filmworks/Budding Grove
Twentieth Century-Fox
Screenplay (Author):
Carole Eastman
Color
Video Available.
Genre:
Comedy, Romance
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