A train derails outside of Chicago and two of the best reporters in town from competing newspapers are hot on the story. Starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte, this is a guaranteed box office blockbuster. Or is it?
The Plot
Peter Brackett is living a good life as a columnist with a hit book just released. When he is pressed into covering a train derailment by his editor, Brackett is forced back on the beat as a reporter and runs into some healthy competition.
Sabrina Peterson is younger and newer to the game than Brackett, but she is determined to outdo the celebrated journalist by beating him to the story. When the two start to cooperate and realize they have more to gain by working together instead of against each other, the story of the train derailment is just the cover to a major pharmaceutical/food story.
With deadly consequences, Brackett and Peterson plunge deeper into the conspiracy and may not make it out alive.
The Good
Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte have great chemistry and I loved their antagonism towards each other, and I even believed in their romance. Their characters are fun, and when characters are fun to watch it compensates for any shortcomings.
Having any movie where Robert Loggia is a newspaper editor, is a winner.
A movie built around a newspaper and the journalists that are breaking news is always a winner for me.
The setting was great, the story was fast paced, and the movie moved along while keeping the audience focused.
The Bad and the Ugly
Why wasn’t there more time for Robert Loggia. If you have Robert Loggia in the role of a newspaper editor, he needs to have more time to be angry, yelling, and smoking a cigar while being angry and yelling.
I could have done without the subplot of Brackett and Peterson getting married. It was silly, and the villain played by James Rebhorn is the worst villain in the history of cinema for being unable to identify the people he was chasing when they were only 15 feet in front of him.
I love Saul Rubinek but his villain Sam is a character that deserved to be better developed than what he got. Rubinek gets forced into a role that the audience will immediately identify as the bad guy.
Beyond the Film Facts
- Harrison Ford was originally offered the Peter Brackett role.
- Nick Nolte does not look back fondly on this film. He often refers to it as the worst movie he ever made.
- Roberts and Nolte did not get along on the set.
- Julia Roberts referred to Nick Nolte as disgusting and did not enjoy his macho act on set.
- Nolte described Roberts as not a nice person and would play up the macho act on set just to irritate her.
- Nolte says that his attitude on set stemmed from the fact that he did the movie for the money and had no interest in the picture. Having no way to connect to the story left him tense and led Nolte to his fraught relationship with Roberts.
- Quick rewriting had to take place when both stars refused to shoot later scenes together.
- Some reports from the set indicate that there were times when Roberts and Nolte did get along, was when they were fed up with the endless retakes that director Shyer and writer Nancy Myers called for.
- With the onset of fighting between the two stars, marketing at Disney did a 180 taking the movie from the theme of a romantic comedy to a thriller in short time.
- Elmer Bernstein was the original composer for the film but was replaced by David Newman.
- Roger Ebert railed against the film for its unrealistic portrayal of the expense account that the reporters have. Ebert would know something about this since he was a Chicago columnist for decades.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.
1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
The stars may have hated making I Love Trouble, but I really enjoyed watching the film. The hostility/chemistry between Roberts and Nolte makes the picture a fun filled romp that has dire consequences for the leads.
I’m sure the bickering on set led to the perfect delivery of many of the one liner quips in the movie, with an extra bit of spice to their insults. Looking back on the movie, I understand why it didn’t connect at the box office, but I sure enjoyed watching it.
It may have been a failure at the box office when it was released, but I Love Trouble gets a 3 Reels rating from me. Make some time and check out this lost gem from the Touchstone Pictures vault.
Cast and Crew
- Nick Nolte as Peter Brackett
- Julia Roberts as Sabrina Peterson
- Saul Rubinek as Sam Smotherman
- Robert Loggia as Matt Greenfield
- Charles Martin Smith as Rick Medwick
Directed by Charles Shyer
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Caravan Pictures
Release Date: June 29, 1994
Budget: $45 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $30,806,194
Coming Soon
Next week a look back at Another Stakeout. Does this sequel to the 1980s original still hold up? Can Rosie O’Donnell add something to this formulaic comedy/action picture? Is Emilio Estevez funny without a mustache?