For 2009's Women in Trouble, director Sebastian Gutierrez took several actresses we're used to seeing in bland supporting roles – the type where you know you recognize her but cannot remember from where – and pushed them into starring roles in a Ritchie-esque ensemble cast.   The result is an unexpectedly entertaining work complete with mile high clubs, coked out musicians, attempted kidnappings, ass-less spandex pants, hilarious confessions and some genuine, if not slightly campy, heart in between all that lingerie.

Overview

Sebastian Gutierrez’s latest film went under the radar with its limited release last year and it’s a shame.  Women in Trouble is a smart, well-written movie revolving around a 24 hour period in the lives of ten Los Angeles women – a pregnant porn star, two call girls, a bartender, masseuse, psychologist, professional businesswoman, her screwed up younger sister and two flight attendants.  Is it a vaguely over-the-top view of what we typically think of as women in "trouble"?  A little bit – but I have a feeling that was the intent and it certainly doesn't make it any less comical!

Highlights

At the outset, we see legendary porn star Elektra Luxx (Carla Gugino, Watchmen) and not-so-bright newcomer Holly Rocket (Adrianne Palicki, Friday Night Lights TV series) about to begin a scene.  Elektra’s cell phone rings offstage and we soon discover shocking news that she is pregnant.  This kicks off all other story lines – everything connects back to Elektra Luxx somehow.

I am used to seeing Gugino in films like Watchmen and Night at the Museum, where she plays underrated supporting roles.  This turn as a makeup plastered, platinum blond, smart and sizzling star is a complete departure from her usual roles and I loved it.  Her story revolves around being stuck in an elevator with Doris (Connie Britton, another Friday Night Lights alum) and the inevitable conversation and revelations – Luxx's reveal of her number one selling product will crack you up – that come from being stuck in such a situation.  It’s an interesting dialogue and I have to admit, hearing Carla Gugino’s character state, “I discovered I have very real talent for sucking c**k on camera.” is both surprising and hysterical.

There is another large plot worthy of note.  Bambi (Entourage actress Emmanuelle Chriqui) is a high class call girl who, along with best friend Holly (Palicki), must avoid some pretty shady characters when their upscale client gets himself into a sticky situation.  This may be the strangest story of all of them.  As it turns out, Holly Rocket has a real problem with a certain performance aspect of her job and cannot seem to get past it.  How fortunate for the audience that we are eventually given the reason why!  I'm still squirming a bit from that – I'm quite sure my ears will never be the same again!  It was all quite entertaining, but in the most uncomfortable way possible – kind of how I feel about Will Ferrell running around in his underwear.

While those are the two main plots, Women in Trouble actually bounces around among several stories; all connect back to Elektra Luxx, but some are seemingly only there to further that plot and are never really returned to.  For example, I felt that the airplane scene was fairly indulgent – all it did was introduce us, briefly, to the baby daddy, which seemed unnecessary to begin with.  After that one scene, we don't really return to it.  That’s not to say the movie doesn’t flow nicely – it does surprisingly well.  In the end, I didn’t feel as though I needed clean cut endings to everyone’s stories.  However, it looks like a sequel, Elektra Luxx, is in post-production, so if you DO end up with questions, hopefully they’ll be nicely wrapped up then.

The monologues, though, are really what made the movie for me.  I especially loved Elektra’s hypothetical confession to the father of her unborn child as well as Doris’s heart-to-heart with her daughter – both actually made me tear up.  Gugino and Britton really bust it out for these and it doesn't go unnoticed.  It’s not all about the drama, though!  Palicki’s character Holly is fabulous at stealing the show – the interview scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) as overenthusiastic reporter Bert Rodriguez is particularly fantastic.

It is billed as a comedy, but I would classify it more as a “dramedy”.  The humor is quite dry and a few of these women are tackle some serious issues that, although we may never experience them, can certainly understand and sympathize with.

Special Features

Women in Trouble on Blu-ray comes as a single disc collection with the feature film and the following:

-Deleted Scenes

-Teaser Trailers

-"Behind the Scenes with Holly Rocket and Elektra Luxx"

-Spanish Subtitles

Unfortunately, most of the special features are nothing to write home about.  There are a few deleted scenes, a teaser trailer and the very funny “Behind the Scenes with Holly Rocket and Elektra Luxx”.  I felt the deleted scenes were done so with good reason – there was no real place in the movie where they could be placed without making the film drag somewhat.  However, "Behind the Scenes" is definitely something worth watching.  The girls tell us to watch this movie with someone you find sexy – or your mom (I don't recommend actually doing that!).

 
Overall

Don’t write this film off as unworthy or cheesy just because it's mainly about the lives of call girls, porn stars and lesbians (what am I saying? I imagine I just grabbed the attention of at least every male who visits our site!).  The dialogue is top-notch and most of these actresses have monologues as beautiful and sincere as they are.

This movie is a lot of things: funny, sharp, vulgar, sexy, at times slightly uncomfortable, nothing to watch with your mother and definitely worth a spot in your collection.  Fairly well known actors, witty dialogue and almost surreal plot lines will have you smiling your way through the movie and wondering how it was overlooked on the big screen.

 
ComicsOnline gives Women in Trouble 4 out of 5 imaginary cigarettes.
 

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