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Visitors Review

walrus29 2013-06-15 11:14:09

Surprised me

I found this movie in the $5.50 bin of Wal-Mart and only got it becauseit had Jack Nicholson in it. I had extremely low expectations, which isprobably why I got such a surprise--This movie is hilarious. It has a very dry line of sarcasm running all the way through it,particularly in the off-the-wall arguments between Nicholson'scharacter and the wife.Taking everything literally will not help you understand the humor. Youhave to view every line as some sort of comeback to a previous one, andthat's when you see the laughable irony in the film. It really didsurprise me; I enjoyed it!And the acting is stellar. The characters really are portrayed well.They're all very comical characters, full of flaws, which just makesthem more realistic in a rather ridiculous plot which honestly couldhave been thrown out the window.Personally, I would have loved to just see a film about the marriagecounseling, which is only glimpsed at, between Nicholson and his wife.Some of the funniest moments are in that part of the film, but, like Isaid, it's dry.Enjoy!

2013-06-15 03:49:46

Strange and yet banal

Jack Nicholson is equal to himself in this film but the subject and the plot does not give him a lot of possibilities to reveal his talent. This meeting of a marginal man in society with an opera singer could have really proposed the exploration of two rich worlds that have little in common. The meeting argument being security and watchdogs it is casual and the subsequent love affair is purely accidental. Yet it is fiery and disturbed by an ex-husband and a very frustrated wife. But the film avoids any kind of depth. It remains superficial and purely anecdotal. It is a sort of fairy tale in the modern world. No discovery of the opera milieu and no discovery of the world of quasi-failing men. And what's more, the opera world is reduced to a Mass by Johan Sebastian Bach, which is not exactly an opera. It is sometimes funny, but only funny ah ah, though it could have been funny strange. A let down in other words for such an actor who must have had some pressing bills to pay at the time of the shooting.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

jotix100 2013-06-14 19:17:10

Gone to the dogs

Bob Rafelson is a puzzling director. After his big successes with"Fiver Easy Pieces" and "The King of Marvin Gardens", Mr. Rafelsondoesn't seem to come out with a film project that will take him back tohis past glory. This is evident with the disastrous "Man Trouble" shownon cable recently.The film is a mess. Jack Nicholson, an actor who has worked with thedirector before with better results, plays the main role of Harry Blissa trainer of dogs without any redeeming qualities. Harry is married toan Oriental woman and is working his marital problems with a counselor.Harry gets involved with Ellen Barkin, who is being stalked. Thesolution is to get a German Shephard dog to protect her. She has movedto her sister's swanky home where probably the only funny scenehappens. We watch Ms. Barkin working with the dog and all her commandshave to be in German, otherwise the dog doesn't respond! The others inthe cast are totally wasted. Beverly D'Angelo has some good moments.Michael McKean, Saul Rubineck, Henry Dean Stanton, are seen insupporting roles.See if there is something else to watch, but don't make the samemistake we made.

2013-06-14 03:57:42

Jack without his usual bag of tricks

Jack Nicholson in this shameless attempt at comedy plays a dog trainer of all professions who gets involved with an oprea singer who is caught up in the underworld of crime. Critcally embarssing to Nicohlson's carrer but jack has done much better to cover this mistake. A minor film with good talent gone to waste, a film way below par considering the re-teaming of director Bob Rafelson & Nicholson from "FIVE EASY PIECES"

Danny Blankenship 2013-06-06 12:37:07

Decent romantic comedy with light hearted laughs, even if it seems a little out of place for the legendary Jack.

1992's "Man Trouble" clearly just doesn't hold much interest or providemuch intrigue for a view really somewhat of a letdown from director BobRafelson as a complex plot and lack of seriousness weigh the film down.Even though Jack's role seems out of place as clearly the romanticcomedy genre has never been his cup of tea. Still Nicholson gives abold and well done direct performance as Harry Bliss who's awisecracking womanizer(certainly something Jack can relate to in reallife)who runs a guard dog agency of all things! When a woman namedJoan(Ellen Barkin)who's a lonely opera singer has her home broken intoand robbed she seeks his aid and service. Then Joan moves into themansion house of her free spirited and eccentric sister Andy(Beverly D'Angelo), yet trouble follows her and Harry as they always seem at themercy and the target of hit men. The film then takes a wild chase ofschemes involving shady characters and hit men that's blended in withthe out of control canines and some romance between Harry and Joan.Overall this film is nothing great it moves pretty well yet the plot isso boring and dull with the humor being very offbeat while the romanceis impossible for the key characters to obtain. Still it's worth awatch if your a Nicholson fan as Jack always delivers even in badfilms, plus Beverly and Ellen both provide a sense of spice and sugarsex appeal to a film that went to the dogs.

2013-06-06 02:40:45

These people are crazy, this is a great movie...

Ellen Barkin and Jack Nicholson are both great in this movie. I love it!

2013-06-05 00:00:42

Lousy

Did Nicholson read the script before signing for this movie? Was he broke that he had to act? Has he reached senility to accept to play in such a poor scenario?Well, as a fan, I am totally disappointed. Don't waste your money for this, it is not worth.

Amnes 2013-06-04 06:17:24

Should have been good...

With the talent involved here, it should have been a much better filmthan it is. Music by Georges Delarue, director Bob Rafelson...Basically it's a lightweight romantic comedy which is attempting toemulate classics comedies about a rich girl meets non-rich guy (thinkKatherine Hepburn) but it just doesn't have the class or punch ofearlier classics in this genre.The cheap looking opening credits/cartoon are the first indication thatsomething is amiss here. The first half is quite OK but after that, youjust don't care enough about these people to stay with the film.There's something incredibly shallow about all those involved and the'comedy' is just too obvious...problem animal, hispanic housekeeper,mismatched/deceived couples.I don't think it's until Harry Dean Stanton makes an appearance quitelate in the film that you think, aaah, now we've got a movie. But it'sall too late.

2013-06-01 03:29:20

Not that bad...even good

Well, I saw the movie last night and have to agree with Alex here. Ithink most people here expected more than just an entertaining movie.The humor is based on silly situations and conversations, and if youcan't laugh about something just because it's so darn silly, you indeedwon't like the humor in this movie. I can appreciate that humor fromtime to time, and yesterday was one of those times. I expected nothingmuch from this movie and it turned out good for me. And Nicholson playsit alright if you ask me (since some are of another opinion here). Myopinion: a nice one for down the road, when you're out of options to dosomething and you just want to lay back and think about nothing...

honesty 2013-05-31 16:44:03

Perhaps the rental fee would be better spent on a six-pack

How Nicholson could let himself be talked into this loser is beyondme.I hope that the producer lost whatever he had on Jack 'cause I don't want tosee another wreck like this for quite a while.

2013-05-31 03:51:12

Love this DVD and play it often.

This review is from: Man Trouble (DVD) It has alot of funny scenes and the chemistry between Jack and Ellen is great. All the actors did a super job. Some of my favorite scenes are Jack and wife at therapy, Jack and Ellen at Japan restaurant dinner, the television interview of the maker and star of a raunchy movie, the hatchet left in the hood of the car after an attack, the whole hospital scenario. There are just too many funny parts to mention them all. Also the dog does a super job.

2013-05-30 14:16:50

Great...

This review is from: Man Trouble (DVD) Man Trouble..... is one of the most entertaining movies that I have ever seen... I treasure it as a very important part of my DVD collection... One of the best performances of Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin.Del Dennis

2013-05-28 00:54:41

AN Awfull Film

I turned it off after 20 minutes.

armvn 2013-05-27 10:32:43

Nicholson is better than the material he's given.

Jack Nicholson plays Harry Bliss, the owner of a guard dog business whofalls in love with Ellen Barkin. Barkin plays Joan, an opera singerwhose home has just been vandalized. For the time being, she stays ather sister's house. Harry helps Joan protect herself with one of hisdogs, who doesn't follow orders. I think the people making this thoughtthis was "hilarious". It's not, if you're wondering. There's anotherplot involving Nicholson being hired to steal Barkin's sister'smanuscript which is a tell-all about her relationship with amillionaire named Red Layls. Layls is played Harry Dean Stanton. By theway, Stanton is good in the one scene he has in this movie. It'scredited as a romantic comedy. The comedy is not all that great. Theromance was alright. It also has one of the worst music scores I'veever heard in a movie. But I should have known I was in trouble whenthe opening credits came on. If you ever see this, expect a lot of "whydon't you call the police?" moments. Because there's a ton of them inthis movie. I know this sounds like I'm trashing this movie and I am,but Jack Nicholson is pretty good and he's better than the materialhe's given. This movie is all over the place but it's an entertainingmisfire. This reminds of a recent episode of the podcast of "We HateMovies" where they discuss an 80's comedy called Off Beat starringJudge Reinhold. They mentioned how it wasn't a good movie, but you feelgood after watching it. That's how I feel about this. This movie was my"Off Beat". I felt relaxed after watching it, despite my reservationswith it. Honestly, Nicholson and Barkin have good chemistry with eachother. If only, they had a better script. At best, I would give this arental.

2013-05-24 16:54:52

A COMIC MASTERPIECE

IF YOU WANT TO LAUGH AND BE ENTERTAINED, THIS MOVIE IS FOR YOU. I NOTE THAT IT DIDN'T MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF A FEW REVIEWERS WHO APPARENTLY HAD TROUBLE DETERMINING WHETHER IT'S A LOVE STORY OR A COMEDY, BUT IT WASN'T A PROBLEM FOR ME. IT'S A SCREWBALL LOVE-COMEDY IN THE STYLE OF THE 1930'S AND ABSOLUTLEY EVERY ACTOR WAS PERFECTLY CAST. JACK NICHOLSON HAS NEVER BEEN FUNNIER AND THIS MOVIE IS A KEEPER. I DON'T KNOW WHY IT HASN'T GOTTEN MORE RECOGNITION. IF I COULD PERSONALLY MAKE A MOVIE, I'D WANT IT TO BE LIKE THIS. RUN, DON'T WALK, TO BUY THIS FILM.

tfrizzell 2013-05-24 11:09:44

Not Even Jack Nicholson Can Save This One

Dreadful Jack Nicholson vehicle from 1992 that is just not very good at all. Nicholson stars as a guard-dog trainer who becomes involved with a womanwho is being stalked (Ellen Barkin). This is supposed to be a comedy, butnothing is very funny. The stalking side-story is used to cover up deadspots in the film, but this fails to work. This creates a film that is notvery funny and not very dramatic. It is a film that is just in limbo. BobRafelson, usually a great director, just does not have it here. Thescreenplay is awful and overall the film is awful. Only the greatest JackNicholson fans will get anything worthwhile out of "Man Trouble". 2 starsout of 5.

nycritic 2013-05-24 19:14:36

Barkin and Nicholson and Failure

I could never tell what this movie was supposed to be about when itcame out. I recall going to the theatres on the basis that this was aBob Rafelson film and having seen some of his better work I was inanticipation of his (then) latest outing.I couldn't have been more disappointed. A movie that is supposed to bea romantic comedy, with screwball sparks flying left and right betweenEllen Barkin and Jack Nicholson, a strong cast that was little morethan vaguely visible, and a story that if it was meant to make sense,somehow, it just managed to become a big flop.A lack of focus and trying to look funnier and crazier than it reallyis, MAN TROUBLE is just a bad movie that has the logic of a ball ofyarn and the novelty of a story that's been done to death, and thensome.

homiepops77 2013-05-24 06:15:22

Great

Very good story i kid u not, and yada yada yada its over and ur thinking wow what a great movie. it was so worth watching or buying or renting.

smatysia 2013-05-17 03:00:27

Barkin and Nicholson can't save this "dog"

I'm a huge fan of Ellen Barkin. She's just soooo cute. Nicholson usuallyprovides one with good entertainment value. But even they couldn't rescuethis one. It really wasn't very funny, and not all that romantic. Iunderstand Nicholson has/had a certain charisma that overcame his lookswhenhe was in his 30's and 40's. But I just can't see Barkin's characterfallingfor him. Not believeable. Worth seeing for fans of Barkin, but even theywill know it's not very good. Grade: D-

2013-05-16 15:48:49

Amusing well done little movie. Nicholson's always a joy.

I don't know why so many people slammed this movie. It's not Bringing Up Baby but it's a million times better than the moronic Something About Mary. Jack Nicholson has always been a very fine comic actor. I love The Fortune which was also written by Carol Eastman (as was 5 Easy Pieces) and was likewise trashed unjustly.