DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Plane Nuts remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you are a fan of pre-code weirdness or just want to see Moe, Larry, and Curly figuring out their rhythm before they became legends, sure. Go for it. But if you need a story that actually goes somewhere or characters who act like real humans? You will probably hate this.
It is basically just a string of vaudeville sketches stapled together with some musical numbers. There is no plot to speak of. Just noise, dancing, and men hitting each other with things.
The pacing is genuinely erratic. One minute they are doing some mildly suggestive skit, and the next, a full orchestra shows up out of nowhere. It feels less like a movie and more like a stage show that forgot to leave the theater.
I noticed a moment where the choreography gets surprisingly sharp, then immediately cuts to a bit that lands with a total thud. It is deeply uneven.
Some of the musical numbers are clearly trying to copy that Berkeley style, but on a budget that barely covers the costumes. The chorines are dancing hard, bless them, but the camera work makes it look like they are all trying to avoid tripping over the wires.
The Stooges are clearly the best part, even when the material is thin. You can see the spark of what they would eventually become, especially Curly. He is already doing that weird physical comedy that makes you wonder if he’s made of rubber.
It is not as polished or frankly as sad as something like A Lion in the House, but then again, it’s not trying to be. It is just silly. It is very, very silly.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even a particularly good movie by any real metric. But it’s a weird, dusty little artifact that exists in the same weird space as Kicked About. Watch it for the messiness. Stay for the slapstick. Leave before you try to figure out what the point was.