Women Are Trouble is a fast, messy trip through the city beat

Is it worth your time?

If you like those snappy, black-and-white newspaper flicks where people talk way faster than anyone actually does in real life, you’ll probably have a decent time with Women Are Trouble. It’s not exactly deep, but it moves. If you need your movies to be prestige dramas or technically perfect, stay away. You’ll be annoyed by the clunky camera work and the way everyone seems to teleport around the city.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a frantic weekend, and I mean that in a good way. Ruth is trying to land a job at a big-city paper, and the movie doesn’t waste time on her backstory. She’s just there, and then she’s seeing a murder, and then she’s got a camera. It’s refreshingly abrupt.

The Reporter Hustle

There’s a moment where she’s trying to get the editor’s attention, and the dialogue is just a total blur of insults and fast talking. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Sally of the Scandals, though maybe a bit less polished. Actually, it feels less like a movie and more like a series of scenes held together by sheer willpower and a lot of cigarettes.

The mobsters are about as generic as they come, wearing their hats pulled low and looking grumpy in every shadow they stand in. One guy is the driver for the commissioner, and he’s clearly marked for death from the moment he opens his mouth. You just know he’s going to be a corpse by the second act.

Little things I noticed

• The background extras in the street scenes have absolutely no idea what to do with their hands.
• The way Ruth holds her camera makes me think she’s never actually used one in her life.
• That one scene in the alleyway? The lighting changes three times in ten seconds. It’s bizarre.
• I’m pretty sure I saw the same extra playing a waiter, a newsie, and a mob goon within the same twenty minutes.

The chemistry between the leads is… well, it’s there, I guess? It’s not romantic, really. It’s more like two people trying to win a shouting match while a plot happens around them. It reminded me of the frantic, low-stakes energy in Sailors Don't Care, where the chaos is basically the whole point.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. The editing is jumpy, the story loses the plot about halfway through, and the ending feels like they just ran out of film and decided to wrap it up in a closet. But honestly? I didn’t care. It has that scrappy, desperate energy that a lot of these older B-movies have. It’s not trying to win an award; it’s trying to get you to the next scene before you notice the plot holes.

Watch it if you want something short and punchy. Don't go looking for deep meaning. Just enjoy the ride, or don't. Either way, the movie won't mind.