Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
While attempting to seduce gorgeous lawyer Diane Lightson, wealthy gadabout Chris Thorne agrees to drive her to Atlantic City, N.J. But, when some reckless driving draws the attention of a deeply critical cop, they and the flamboyant "Brazillionaires" who tagged along end up in the court of a grotesque and vengeful judge, who has a special vendetta against the wealthy and erudite.
Nothing But Trouble is a genuinely singular cinematic oddity — Dan Aykroyd's passion project is so aggressively strange, so committed to its grotesque carnival-haunted-house vision, that it defies easy categorization. The production design and practical creature effects are memorably bizarre and visually inventive, earning above-average marks for cinematography and a rare high Novelty score for sheer one-of-a-kind weirdness. However, the plot is thin and meandering — essentially a premise stretched into a feature with little narrative momentum. The acting is broad to the point of embarrassing, with Aykroyd buried under prosthetics delivering a performance that alienates rather than charms, and even Chevy Chase and Demi Moore seem adrift. The ending deflates rather than satisfies. This is a cult curio that fails commercially and narratively but succeeds as a truly unrepeatable fever dream.