Key Insights

• Film Performance: Despite a star-studded cast, Nothing But Trouble grossed only $8.5 million against a $45 million budget.
• Critical Reception: The film was poorly received by critics upon its release in 1991.
• Director’s Perspective: Dan Aykroyd attributed the film’s failure to competition from other major releases during its opening weekend.
• Cult Following: Over the years, the film has developed a cult following despite its initial reception.

On paper, a cast featuring Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, John Candy, and Dan Aykroyd should have guaranteed success. In reality, Nothing But Trouble lived up to its title. The film was mauled by critics in 1991 and limped away with a measly $8.5 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million.

In an interview with The Woody Show last year, Aykroyd gave his two cents on why the film failed. “Nothing But Trouble is a fun, very servicable comedy, but was not a hit at the time because we were doomed on the weekend that it opened, and I’ll tell you how,” he explained. “Two pictures opened on the marketplace against us that weekend. One was The Silence of the Lambs with Jodie Foster, and Julia Roberts’ Sleeping with the Enemy. You can be sure every woman in America told their husbands or boyfriends, ‘We’re going to see those two movies!’“

Aykroyd, who wrote and directed the film, based Nothing But Trouble on an event that actually happened to him. He had been pulled over for speeding in upstate New York and was brought before an elderly judge, who fined him $50, but that wasn’t the end of it. He was invited to stay for tea, and it took him four hours to get out of it.

The film takes that event and pushes it to the extreme. Chase plays a financial publisher who agrees to accompany a beautiful lawyer (Moore) to a meeting. On the way, they’re arrested and brought before a deranged judge (Aykroyd) and his eccentric family. They are forced to endure a nightmarish series of grotesque traps, oddball locals, and twisted comedy that blurs the line between horror and slapstick. Aykroyd and Candy play multiple roles in the film.

Chase later trashed the movie, saying he only did it due to his friendship with Aykroyd. As for Aykroyd, he said, “I love Chevy. We were great brothers and collaborators. But there were times when it was like hauling ore up a hill with a bad mule.” In the years since its release, the movie has enjoyed something of a cult following, but Aykroyd never directed another feature film again.

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