Film

Nothing but Trouble

Name: Nothing but Trouble
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Released: 1991
Cast: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Demi Moore, Daniel Baldwin

Comedy
Light-hearted

A 1991 comedy about wealthy socialites dragged before a grotesque small-town judge with an axe to grind. It's gonzo, deliberately ugly, and utterly committed to its own weirdness—less interested in laughs than in creating a bizarre fever dream. For viewers who appreciate ambitious failure and unhinged creativity.

TMDb rating

2.6

If you liked this

Trading Places1983

A sharper comedy about wealthy people learning humility through circumstance. Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd deliver perfectly calibrated comic performances with actual stakes and character arcs underneath the reversals.

But It's considerably more conventional and grounded than what you're looking for if you wanted the surreal weirdness turned up to eleven.

Coming to America1988

Another Aykroyd vehicle that commits to absurdist fish-out-of-water comedy with genuine warmth. The comedy lands because the characters have real objectives and the film trusts the premise completely.

But Far more accessible and joke-forward; it won't scratch the same itch for grotesque production design and deliberate alienation.

Ghostbusters II1989

A comedy that shares the ensemble chaos and willingness to go visually weird. Aykroyd, Chase, and company operating in a film that's trying to do something unexpected within mainstream comedy parameters.

But Still too slick and studio-safe compared to the deliberate ugliness of what you just watched.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Nothing but Trouble

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eolomea1972

Both films trust the audience to sit with something fundamentally alien and uncomfortable rather than smoothing it into palatability. Both construct a complete reality that operates by its own rules regardless of whether viewers find it pleasant.

A Hungarian sci-fi film in which a woman returns from space utterly transformed and unknowable. Like Nothing but Trouble, it prioritizes aesthetic strangeness and genuine unease over coherent narrative—but instead of comedy grotesque, it's dreamy and profoundly weird.

But It's deliberately slow, its logic operates by dream-rules rather than plot-rules, and dialogue is sparse. Complete tonal opposite of comedy, so it requires patience and tolerance for opacity.

Scrooged1988

Bill Murray in a Christmas Carol riff that embraces tonal whiplash and the grotesque alongside sentiment. It's messy in ways big studio comedies rarely allow themselves to be.

But It finds redemption and warmth; if you're craving pure unhinged weirdness without a heart, this softens the edges.

Adventures in Babysitting1987

Another road-movie comedy that piles absurdity upon absurdity with genuine affection for its characters. Escalates beautifully from setup to complete chaos.

But The chaos serves the story rather than existing for its own sake; it's far more earnest about narrative coherence.

The Kentucky Fried Movie1977

Sketch comedy from the Zucker brothers that shares the anything-goes sensibility and willingness to spend money on bits that don't quite work. Anarchic and genuinely strange.

But Episodic structure means it's hit-or-miss; some sketches will kill and others will land flat, which can feel frustrating rather than charmingly weird.

UHF1989

Weird Al Yankovic in a comedy about a chaotic TV station. It has that same DIY-ish energy despite a studio budget, plus genuine weirdness in the margins.

But It's ultimately sweeter and more conventional in its heart than the fever dream you just experienced.

The 'Burbs1989

Tom Hanks leading an ensemble comedy about suburban paranoia that gets progressively weirder and darker. Tonally ambitious in ways most comedies won't attempt.

But It grounds itself in character development and actual horror-comedy crossover; less pure chaos than what Nothing but Trouble commits to.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment1985

Dumb, cheerfully made ensemble comedy that doesn't pretend to be anything but a vehicle for its cast to riff on character types. Equally committed to its own idiocy.

But It's aggressively stupid in ways that feel lazy rather than ambitious, and it hasn't aged well.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment poster

Pee-wee's Big Adventure1985

Both films were directed by SNL people (Paul Reubens co-wrote and starred in his) and both treat the entire world as an extension of their protagonist's psychology. Both understand that comedy can live in the production design itself.

Tim Burton's debut is Nothing but Trouble's weird cousin—a film that understands comedy as a vehicle for eccentric production design and a deeply strange sensibility. Every frame is packed with character and oddness.

But It's more childlike and innocent in its weirdness, less intent on creating discomfort. The design serves whimsy rather than grotesquerie.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both films feature a grotesque, vengeful figure (judge/phantom) whose existence creates a warped microcosm. Both refuse to choose between beauty and ugliness, comedy and horror. Both are expensive films that committed utterly to a vision most studios would have neutered.

Brian De Palma's wild rock-opera horror-comedy hybrid about a rock musician remade by a vengeful figure. It's campy, grotesque, genuinely unsettling, and played with complete seriousness by its cast. Genre-defying in the best way.

But It's deadly serious about its themes of artistic theft and vengeance; the horror is real underneath the excess. If you want pure comedy without the existential dread, this isn't it.