The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble: Just a Lot of Yelling

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a weird itch for 1930s studio-era shouting matches. If you like your comedy subtle or modern, stay far away. But if you’re the kind of person who enjoys watching The Fable of Henpecked Henry and wants to see that same energy stretched out into a full feature, you might get a kick out of it.

The plot is just an excuse to get these two families into the same room so they can scream at each other. It’s loud. Sometimes, it’s actually kind of funny in a way that feels like a headache waiting to happen. 😅

Notes from the couch

The movie moves fast, mostly because nobody ever stops to take a breath. There’s this one scene involving a revenue agent that feels like it was written on a napkin five minutes before the cameras rolled. It’s flimsy, but you stop caring because the actors are putting so much effort into the bit.

Maureen O'Sullivan is in this, looking like she’s just trying to keep her head above water while everyone else is doing their best to chew the scenery. It’s an interesting contrast. She’s real, and they are basically cartoons.

• The pacing is frantic.
• The dialogue is basically just people interrupting each other.
• The alimony plot point is handled with the grace of a sledgehammer.

It’s not as dark or weird as something like The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, obviously. It’s just fluff. But it’s fluff that’s been sitting in the sun for about ninety years.

I caught myself staring at the background extras in one of the street scenes. One guy in a hat just stands there for like, thirty seconds, doing absolutely nothing while the main characters have a full meltdown right in front of him. He probably just wanted to go home.

Anyway, don't go in expecting high art. It’s just people being miserable in the funniest way they knew how back then. It’s a bit like watching a car crash, if the cars were made of paper and everyone inside was shouting about taxes.

Not something I’d watch twice, but it’s definitely something I watched once. Sometimes that’s enough, right?