There are specific words in the English language (and in any other language) that resonate with most people. They have the power to elicit certain emotions and reactions. One word, which I believe has this ability, is the word ‘trouble.’ As the screenwriter and director of a film going by this name, I wonder what, exactly, Theresa Rebeck was attempting to draw from a prospective audience member.

Rebeck has certainly seen her fair share of success, as well as some low points, at least in terms of critical response to the films based on her screenplays. However, this would be the first time in which she has directed, as well as written the material she was involved with.

For a movie of such little fanfare, it boasts a pretty impressive cast. At the top, we have Anjelica Huston (“The Cleanse”) as Maggie and Bill Pullman (“The Equalizer 2”) as Ben. For this movie, they make up a volatile pair of siblings, fighting for land which was passed down from their father. Equally involved and important to the cast is David Morse (“Concussion”) as Gerry. At first, it is a little unclear as to what his role is, fully, to Maggie and Ben, but I suppose it is withheld, intentionally, so the story can have a juicy (figuratively and literally) revelation by the end of the film.

Although the rest of the cast is not all that involved, on paper, it is a strong showing: Julia Stiles (“Jason Bourne”) as Rachel, Brian d’Arcy James (“Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House”) as Logan, Jim Parrack (“Suicide Squad”) as Curt and Victor Willaims (“November Criminals”) as Ray. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a lot more from the characters of Rachel and Logan. In my view, they had the potential to bring a nice layer to the plot, which could have made things more interesting, but it seemed that once they were established into the story, they were cut out and never heard from again until the movie was all but wrapped up. However, the character of Curt did, in fact, play a fairly significant part in the plot, but it mostly met a dead end, in terms of where it could have gone before the film closed. 

“Trouble” has a few flashback sequences, throughout, starting with the very first scene in the movie. The fundamental problem is that it is not clear enough that the opening scene is, actually, a flashback. As the story goes on, these scenes area little bit easier to spot, but they still lack a hard marker to indicate themselves to the audience as flashback sequences. In at least one instance, it was even confusing to determine who is supposed to be whom in the scenes. At one point, I thought I was watching Maggie’s husband with their kids, which turned out not to be the case. By the end of the film, it all made sense, but was that the way it was intended? To be ambiguous? I cannot imagine how.

The dialogue was not what I would call strong, either. Experience could not have been the issue. I thought there was the potential to make something uniquely comedic, but the attempts to do so, were not really there. Even though “Trouble” is definitely more of a character-driven story, the plot was still a bit too thin and uninspired. Because of this, there was not a lot of room for the characters to become more intriguing. If I could compare this movie to anything, it would be 2000’s “Drowning Mona,” only that film was a lot funnier and more entertaining.

The biggest letdown was probably the ending. The stage, so to speak, was set for there to be a great, dramatic finish, but it was as if the moviemakers ran out of time and/or money. Everything wrapped up with no bow ties of any kind! Just a bunch of loose ends which could only be solved if there were a short project in the works, as a follow-up. If this is the scenario, then at least it is consistent with the rest of this film: totally ambiguous, a little bit confusing and, ultimately, very disappointing.

When I thought back to all the films I had seen Huston and Pullman in, I wondered what led either of them to do this movie. Sure, they had both done their fair share of strange and underachieving work, but they have both flourished greatly, overall. At some point in your career, no matter what it is, you just want to have fun doing what you do and you care less about the money and/or accolades. Possibly, both of these stars have reached that level. Who could really blame them? Still, we all want to be remembered in a positive way and if enough of these projects make their way into the fold, the answer to the question: “What have you done for me lately?” becomes more difficult to answer, but it is possible, as well, that I am blowing things a bit out of proportion.

Director: Theresa Rebeck
Screenwriter: Rebeck
Cinematography: Christina Voros
Starring: Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman, David Morse, Julia Stiles, Brian d’Arcy James, Jim Parrack and Victor Williams
Distributor: WME Global and Great Point Media
Release: June 8th, 2017 (Seattle) and October 5th, 2018 (USA)