She Had to Eat: A weirdly frantic afternoon at the gas station

Should you bother?

If you like movies where everyone is constantly shouting and running through doors, you might get a kick out of She Had to Eat. It’s definitely not for the people who want a quiet, moody drama. If you have zero patience for 1930s slapstick, stay far away.

Jack Haley is the guy running the gas station. He looks about as confused as I felt for the first ten minutes. The whole setup—kidnapping the wrong guy—is the kind of thing that probably felt fresher back then. Now, it just feels like watching a guy trip over his own feet for an hour.

There's a scene near the middle where a character tries to be intimidating, but he ends up looking like he just stepped in a puddle. It's funny, but maybe not on purpose? The pacing is just wild. One minute they're in the desert, the next they're somewhere else entirely, and nobody seems to care about the logistics.

Odd bits I noticed

• The gangsters have these hats that look like they're about to slide off every time they turn their heads.
• The dialogue is so fast that sometimes it sounds like they're all reading from a grocery list.
• There is a brief moment in the background where someone is just... sweeping? It’s not mentioned, just there.

It reminded me a little of the frantic energy in In a Pinch, though this one has way more cars. Not better cars, just more of them honking. Arthur Treacher is in it, which is always a weird little surprise. He’s got that specific way of looking down his nose at everyone like he’s smelling something sour.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a hurry. You can almost hear the director yelling "just keep going!" from behind the camera. It doesn't have the polish of, say, O Leão da Estrela, but it has this raw, silly charm.

Don't look for a plot that makes sense. If you try to track why the gangsters are actually at the station, you'll just get a headache. Just watch Haley try to get out of a car without dropping his hat. That's the movie right there. 🚗💨