Oh man, so get this. I’m a garbage man and I just can’t control these a-wanderin’ hands. Well, let me tell you what, that really gets me into trouble. The people slapping my face kind of trouble. And they’re slapping my face hard. So hard that I have a concussion and possibly brain damage, and I can’t remember a thing. Do you remember what happened in Man Trouble?
Pop Quiz Hot Shot!
1) Jack Nicholson is, as I said, a garbage man. And not in the custodial sense, like he’s garbage. Anyways, what is his job?
2) And what is Ellin Barkin’s job? Also why is she in a spot of trouble?
3) Oh and what is Ellin Barkin’s sister’s job? Can you tell there isn’t much to really care about in this film?
4) And what is Harry Dean Stanton looking for? What does he offer Jack Nicholson to get it for him?
5) In the end what is the whole sordid tale? Where does Stanton stash the sister, what happens to the manuscript, and who was causing Ellen Barkin’s trouble and why?
Bonus Question: 30 years later and we see a phone rigging. That’s right, it’s the trailer for Man Trouble 2. Who answers?
Answers
1) He trains dogs. That’s his actual job. He mentions it in the middle of the film. That he is an excellent dog trainer and basically that he trained Rin Tin Tin (the more modern equivalent I mean). But at the moment due to financial trouble he sold his famous dog and is trying to breed new dogs to train and sell for security.
2) She is, oddly, an opera singer. Or … kind of. She doesn’t ever seem to sing in the opera. She instead seems to sing during symphony performances. She’s in a spot of trouble because her apartment was ransacked and she seems to have a stalker. I guess that means she needs some … security. A dog perhaps.
3) Her sister appears to be a gold digger, to use a loaded and probably unfair term. She marries very rich people, including Harry Dean Stanton. And yeah, I can tell that there isn’t much to discuss about this film.
4) Harry Dean Stanton is looking for the tell all manuscript that Ellen Barkin’s sister wrote. He has … some notes. He (via his lawyer) offers Jack Nicholson 15 thousand dollars for the manuscript, if he can find it.
5) Stanton stashed the sister in a mental hospital (scary). The manuscript ends up being moot since the sister ends up going back to Stanton anyways. And Ellen Barkin’s trouble was all caused by a member of her symphony who is in love with her and felt jilted when she ended up marrying the symphony conductor (who she is now divorcing).
Bonus Answer: What else could Man Trouble 2 be about by Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin’s son! And yeah, obviously Ray Nicholson is going to play this character. Much like his pops he’s always got an angle, and his angle is he’s the private dick with a cybersecurity expertise for celebrities’ sensitive cybercrime issues. When a social media star is getting disturbing images during live streams she doesn’t know what to do (and neither do the police). But luckily she runs into Ray on the beach (literally) where he’s looking to use his cyber skillz in a slightly less … ethical avenue (specifically he’s skimming credit cards). Inviting him to try and track the cyber stalker with his 1337 h4x0r skillz, Ray finds himself discovering something else. Love. Awwwwwwwwwwwww. And 1337 h4xx1n6 is what he does best! Can he catch the crooks before his new lady love gets canceled (permanently)? Find out in …
Man Trouble 2: Cyber. Coming to Netflix this fall. Call me Netflix. The writer’s strike is right around the corner.
Bad Movie Twins 