With Jim Sabatini

Nothing But Trouble

Rated: PG-13
Reviewed by: Frank and Chris
Release date: February 15, 1991

We've all heard horror stories about people who were detained overcharged or jailed for minor traffic violations in small out-of-the-way hick towns. Well, Chevy Chase and Demi Moore have their own horror story in Nothing But Trouble when they take a detour off the New Jersey turnpike and end up trying to outrun the Valkenvania Police Chief (John Candy) for running a stop sign.

They're brought before the Justice of the Peace (Dan Ackroyd, who also wrote and directed the screenplay), a 106 year old pack rat. He has accumulated enough scrap, junk and bric-a-brac at his dilapidated estate to entice any flea market addicts for the rest of their lives. The Justice of the Peace has appointed himself judge, jury and executioner, and depending on the crime, carries out death sentence via a roller coaster ride through the bone crusher machine.

Ackroyd wrote this black comedy based on an experience he had in small town over a traffic violation that got out of hand. Obviously, it was a dreary memory for him, because this film is an unfunny, bleak and dismal experience for the viewer. In fact, an actual trip to Valkenvania might have been more fun.