Trouble Is My Business Movie Review

Trouble Is My Business ( 2018 ) Feature Film Review 4.5/5 This is one of those rare indie, lower budget films that I really and truly loved. Not just as a good independent film, but as a great film in general. Half expecting some dreary black and white picture, pitched as a noir title "because" it's black and white, I knew this wasn't going to be the case within the first minute or so. What I ended up getting with "Trouble Is My Business" was a stylized, well thought out production, that captured the feel it was going for perfectly. This doesn't just look like it was based on the stylized concepts of the genre, it plays like the real thing. From the excellent use of cliche shadows, from blinds and fans - and whatever else could possibly make a great looking shadow, straight through to comedic yet believable dialog... believable for a film of this nature that is. Sayings like "being a flat tire" and dead-pan one liners, fill the sound space and brought a grin to my face. Generally speaking, Tom Konkle and Brittney Powell have penned an excellent script and Konkle himself, has done some excellent work directing it. It's all here for lovers of this type of movie and more to the point, it's all here even if you're not a genre fan. Set within Konkle and Powell's version of a decade long gone, the props, costuming, and general back drops all scream to be noticed - yet are not the main, onscreen attraction here. The main attraction as it were, is the inevitable story we all know and love... done well and acted brilliantly. Sure. We may not know all the details of the story - and I'm certainly not going to share them, but the staples are in place and guaranteed. The down on his luck private dick. The mysterious dame... and in this case, her sister as well. The rivalry of a competing detective and of course, a slew of villainous characters that are either quirky enough to be sinister, or just down right bad. We all know the players and general greedy concepts, and I feel it's that familiar setting that makes this film work. As for the players on the stage ladies and germs? How did they do? Bluntly... the cast are no slouches. Hell, you may even recognize a few yourself... meaning that we do have some experience on-set. That's not really the point however, not the one I want to make. All the characters within "Trouble Is My Business" feel right at home onscreen, meaning that the actors must have felt at home as well. Lines were corny sounding when they needed to be. Witty when it worked for the scene, and everything you expect from a film of this nature. Since this is a stylistic genre, I have no other way to describe the acting except to say it's exactly what you think it's going to be. Like the other production elements within the film, everything just seems to fit together nicely, creating a film that plays smooth as silk. Even the incredibly lengthy run-time of almost two hours - crazy for an indie low budget film - seems not all that long while you are watching. It's just one of those rare indie productions where everything managed to fall in place. I write that rather loosely, since the reality of things "falling into place" no doubt required a "lot" of hard work. To me, the viewer however, that magical feeling of everything just fitting together nicely, is a movie watchers blissful ignorance. I know, it's a lot of hard work that creates that feeling. A lot of hard work my eyes... and ears... are thankful for. I don't know what's being put into the water lately, but I've had the pleasure of watching a "lot" of independent, lower budget productions, that have been simply splendid. What a great year it has been - and maybe a little scary of a year for the traditional studio model of movie making. "Trouble Is My Business" ranks quite high on my best of the best scale. Did I mention the names on this scale are pleasantly longer than the last few years, yet not quite considered numerous? Quickly changing is the stigma independent, micro films have always been associated with. Crappy. Horrible acting and production. Campy, corny and laughable. Konkle and Powell's title helps raise that bar a little higher, and reduce the stigma in the process. This was a film I am glad I got to see. If this write-up helps gets even one more set of eyes viewing, it was all worth it. Bottom line? This is a fun, visually interesting movie. Congrats to the cast and crew for a job well... well done.

Trouble Is My Business Movie DVD Blu-Ray Cover

Vernon Wells
David Beeler
Jordana Capra
Ben Pace
Mark Teich
Tom Konkle
Brittney Powell
Steve Tom

Excerpts from Andy Wolverton's Review of Trouble Is My Business Movie

Excerpts from Andy Wolverton’s Review in the April/May 2018 Edition of The Dark Pages Newsletter Subscribe today! http://www.allthatnoir.com

Trouble Is My Business Movie Review in The Dark Pages by Andy Wolverton

In Review: Trouble is My Business (2018) by Andy Wolverton (Excerpts) “…the more time that separates you from any historical era, the harder it is to recreate it. It’s certainly true of film noir. If you have enough money, you can replicate the suits, the dresses, the cars, the hairstyles, and all the rest. That’s the easy part. The real challenge is in deciding whether you’re going to do a homage or a parody, a tribute or a send- up.
That decision will determine the writing, acting, direction, pacing, and practically every aspect of the project. Trouble is My Business is that rare film that manages to give audiences a visual noir feast as the backdrop of an excellent story, all the while incorporating comedic elements that never waver into the territory of parody.

      Even from the very beginning, we sense we’re in good hands. A lonesome trumpet yearns over a piano and strings as the credits appear in a font that could be a first cousin to the one used in Double Indemnity. Outside a city building, a man wearing a trench coat and a fedora waits. A sedan approaches, its headlights burning into the night before the car stops. The man gets in and with the upper portion of his face illuminated, says to the driver, “Take me to the cemetery. She’s still alive.”

          "In a flashback (what film noir is complete without one?) we learn that the man in the trench coat is Roland Drake (Tom Konkle, also the film’s director), a P.I. facing an eviction notice and feeling the after-effects of a failed missing persons case. Into his office walks Catherine Montemar, a dark-haired beauty in a black dress handing Drake another missing persons case: Catherine’s father has just disappeared and she fears her sister may be next. As easily as Catherine walks into Drake’s office, she also slides into his bed, but the next morning Drake wakes up alone with blood-soaked sheets. As Drake tries to process this, there’s a knock on his door. A loud knock.” ” As with most good film noir stories, this is just the beginning. Trouble is My Business is filled with familiar noir touches that will surprise audiences not by their inclusion, but rather by the care taken in breathing life into them. It’s easy to make a scene more “noirish” by adding slanted shadows from window blinds, slowly spinning ceiling fans and two-piece rotary telephones, but not so easy to have the essence of noir seep through. Case in point: when Jennifer Montemar (Brittney Powell) hires Drake to find out what happened to her sister Catherine, Drake isn’t quite sure she’s on the level. Drake’s skepticism is conveyed visually as he circumnavigates both his desk and the seated Jennifer, all the while walking in the shadows of the ceiling fan. The camera follows both players in this cat-and-mouse game as Drake gains confidence and Jennifer loses hers. Or does she It’s a moment that’s better than it has to be. Seasoned noir audiences notice and appreciate such things. ”

      "Fans will also appreciate a tip of the hat to several classic noir films. Kasper Gutman’s story of the black bird in The Maltese Falcon (1941) comes to mind during Jennifer’s tale of a stolen family diamond. A nice Vertigo (1958) moment occurs when Drake stands outside the Montemar mansion looking in. A movie marquee in the background of one scene announces the showing of Build My Gallows High, the novel on which Out of the Past (1947) was based. Such touches are most welcome, like an unexpected visit from an old friend. ” “(Tom) Konkle’s performance as Drake is everything a noir fan could ask for: an average Joe with an everyman face, a wise- cracking manner, and that precarious balance of intensity and indifference that eludes so many actors attempting P.I. roles. ” ” (Brittney) Powell is stunning as Jennifer: tough and desperate, vulnerable and vehement, coy and aggressive. Although Vernon Wells as Detective Barry Tate goes a bit over the top, the supporting performances are generally excellent. (Jana Banker does more acting with her eyes in a few brief moments as a hotel receptionist than most actors can do given an hour. As director, Konkle stays true to the roots of film noir, yet isn’t afraid to have fun. Trouble is My Business has a strong noir look and structure that will appeal to veteran film noir fans while the action and comedic elements could win over less-seasoned audiences. Such a balancing act is hard to pull off, but Konkle and company have done a masterful job. Trouble is My Business is a marvelous independent film that deserves a wide audience…”

Film Review Trouble Is My Business Vernon Wells Tom Konkle Brittney Powell a love letter to all things noir and they certainly succeeded.

Trouble is My Business (2017) review October 19, 2017 By Carl Burgess Set in the 1940’s, Private Investigator Roland Drake finds himself on a dangerous missing persons case after being hired by a beautiful dame. We review the independent feature film Trouble is My Business. Trouble is My Business (2017) review

When you think about the term “independent feature film”, images of arty love stories, football hooligans and cliched horror will likely pop into your mind. You may think about poor acting alongside amateurish cinematography and worse sound design (which in some cases is fair, but definitely not all). What you probably won’t think about is a stylish film noir set in a backdrop of 1940’s Los Angeles, with great dialogue performed by some very capable actors; yet this is exactly what Trouble is My Business is. Directed by Tom Konkle based on a screenplay by Konkle and fellow actor/scribe Brittney Powell, Trouble is My Business is a clever and well-crafted movie with nods to the Golden era of Hollywood – think Chinatown meets the video game L.A. Noir with a bit of comic book style thrown in for good measure and you’ll be on the right track. After a prior missing persons case ended in disaster, private investigator Roland Drake (played by director Konkle) finds himself down on his luck. Work has dried up, he has recently received some unwanted attention from the press and his office is about to be foreclosed. Then he finds a beautiful Femme Fatale at his desk. Katherine Montemar requires Drake to help her find her missing father. Although he is reluctant at first, Konkle accepts the job and they soon find themselves in bed together. Things then take a turn for the worse, when Drake wakes up in blood-soaked sheets with Katherine missing. Confused, Drake is soon paid a visit by Katherine’s older sister Jennifer (Brittney Powell) who now wants Drake to find both Katherine and their father. Soon, Drake finds himself in a web of lies, treachery and deceit alongside some shady characters including his former partner Lew MacDonald (David Beeler), the hard-nosed and rather dodgy police detective Barry Tate (Vernon Wells) and the wicked Montemar matriarch Evelyn (Jordana Capra). It was great to see Vernon Wells in this production. Many readers out there will fondly remember his performances as the chain mail-wearing villain Bennett in the action classic Commando and when he wore the red Mohawk as Wez in Mad Max 2: Road Warrior. Other die-hard film fans will recognise Brittney Powell from (a personal guilty pleasure of mine) Airborne alongside Jack Black and Set Green in early roles. As a matter of fact, all the cast give good performances, with some over-the-top line delivery that help generate laughs and intrigue to great effect, especially Konkle who seemed to have a whale of a time in front of, and behind, the camera.Trouble is My Business poster 203x300 Trouble is My Business (2017) review The production design is rather excellent. Konkle and his team transport us to the 40’s with the help of some small and neat details mixed with great set dressing and lighting. Talking about the sets, the team used a mixture of real locations alongside green screen. Whilst some scenes are obviously crafted using cgi, some are done so well that only fellow filmmakers will be able to tell. The score, by composers Thomas Chase and Hayden Clement works very well with the imagery, even if it seems to be playing constantly in the background. It’s obvious to tell that a hell of a lot of hard work and effort was put into creating Trouble is My Business, it is a labour of love for all those involved and it should certainly be applauded. With a small budget, many filmmakers would have easily opted to create something on a smaller scale, yet this production team went all out. They set out to make a love letter to all things noir and they certainly succeeded. Trouble is My Business is a lot of fun and worth checking out. 4.5 / 5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Film Review of Trouble Is My Business Random Media Lumen Actus 2018 from Alt Film Critic Tim Cogshell

'Trouble Is My Business': Humorous Film Noir Pays Homage to 'Touch of Evil' & Other Classics By Tim Cogshell Trouble Is My Business with Brittney Powell: Femme fatale in humorous homage to old film noirsTrouble Is My Business with Brittney Powell. Co-written by actor/voice actor Tom Konkle, who also directed, and Xena: Warrior Princess actress Brittney Powell, Trouble Is My Business is a humorous homage to film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, among them John Huston's The Maltese Falcon and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Konkle stars in the sort of role that back in the '40s and '50s belonged to the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, and Alan Ladd. As the femme fatale, Brittney Powell is supposed to evoke memories of Jane Greer, Lizabeth Scott, Lauren Bacall, and Claire Trevor. 'Trouble Is My Business': Humorous film noir homage evokes memories of 'The Maltese Falcon' & 'Touch of Evil' A crunchy, witty, and often just plain funny mash-up of classic noir tropes, from hard-boiled private dicks to the easy-on-the-eyes femme fatales – in addition to dialogue worthy of Dashiell Hammett and, occasionally, Mel Brooks – Trouble Is My Business means business, but it doesn't mind having a good chuckle as it walks the dark and winding path of double-crosses, corruption, and death. Directed by Tom Konkle, who also co-wrote and co-stars with Brittney Powell as the dick and the dame, Trouble Is My Business – no direct connection to Raymond Chandler's 1939 Philip Marlowe short story – features Konkle as private eye Roland Drake, the quintessential representation of the 1940s noir detective – no pretty boy – with a visage having more in common with Robert Mitchum, who played Marlowe in the 1975 neo-noir Farewell My, Lovely, than Humphrey Bogart, who was Sam Spade in the movie about the black bird. Neither of those guys were pretty boys either, which is why we bought them – and that's why we buy Konkle as a forlorn detective taking the rap for the death of a girl he was supposed to save. Femme fatale Brittney Powell Brittney Powell is also a veteran actor whose credits include Brunhilda in Xena: Warrior Princess, among several auspicious roles in all manner of film and television. She's very good as Jennifer Montemar, a part written by Powell herself so she could play the kind of woman she always wanted. Jennifer has a good deal more humor than, say, Mary Astor's desperate femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon. Yet Powell (eventually) gives the character even more of an edge than Jane Greer's blond, man-eating girl-shark in Out of the Past. Film noir references Those movies and a number of others that only true aficionados of the genre will notice are referenced in Trouble Is My Business. For fans, catching little homages to Double Indemnity and Murder, My Sweet is lovely, but the film Trouble Is My Business circles most often is the great Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Shades of Welles' evil Police Captain Hank Quinlan show up in the character played by veteran actor Vernon Wells (The Road Warrior): Detective Barry Tate, a sadistic sociopath of a cop that Drake must eventually face – alongside his other demons. Trouble Is My Business trailer. Twists and turns + artifice The twists and turns of the plot in Trouble Is My Business are every bit as serpentine as those in most noir. I still don't know what's going on in The Maltese Falcon, and I'm not sure I know exactly what's going on in this movie either – but as is the case with most noir, who cares? It's the ride and the characters and the very tone itself – not the stories – that make noir … noir. To that end, the filmmakers here use another film noir trope: artifice. The film noirs of old were generally inexpensive productions; some were actually cheap. They usually faked everything from locations and lighting to the existence of walls and ceilings where there were none. The use of darkness was not necessarily a stroke of filmmaking genius in the production of noir, it was at times a necessity because there was usually very little production design and often lots of stuff to hide. The leading man never changed clothes because the leading lady's wardrobe was more important. Trouble Is My Business uses the artifice of props and costume and special effects to create 1940s Los Angeles exteriors and lush interiors all of which is slightly unreal, if not a little surreal. Orson Welles, himself a master of the unreal in a number of ways, would be most impressed. Trouble Is My Business (2017) Dir.: Tom Konkle. Scr.: Tom Konkle & Brittney Powell. Cast: Tom Konkle. Brittney Powell. Vernon Wells. David Beeler. Steve Tom. Ben Pace. Mark Teich. Doug Spearman. Jordana Capra. Benton Jennings. William Jackson. E. Sean Griffin.

FILM REVIEW TROUBLE IS MY BUSINESS starring Vernon Wells Brittney Powell Tom Konkle

FILM INFO: Detective Roland Drake falls for two sisters from the Montemar family. One woman is dead and the other wants to kill him. WRITTEN BY: Brittney Powell, Tom Konkle DIRECTED BY: Tom Konkle GENRE: Crime, Mystery TIME: 113 minutes. Trouble Is My Business ( 2018 )

4.5/5 Stars This is one of those rare indie, lower budget films that I really and truly loved. Not just as a good independent film, but as a great film in general. Half expecting some dreary black and white picture, pitched as a noir title "because" it's black and white, I knew this wasn't going to be the case within the first minute or so. What I ended up getting with "Trouble Is My Business" was a stylized, well thought out production, that captured the feel it was going for perfectly. This doesn't just look like it was based on the stylized concepts of the genre, it plays like the real thing. From the excellent use of cliche shadows, from blinds and fans - and whatever else could possibly make a great looking shadow, straight through to comedic yet believable dialog... believable for a film of this nature that is. Sayings like "being a flat tire" and dead-pan one liners, fill the sound space and brought a grin to my face. Generally speaking, Tom Konkle and Brittney Powell have penned an excellent script and Konkle himself, has done some excellent work directing it. It's all here for lovers of this type of movie and more to the point, it's all here even if you're not a genre fan. Set within Konkle and Powell's version of a decade long gone, the props, costuming, and general back drops all scream to be noticed - yet are not the main, onscreen attraction here. The main attraction as it were, is the inevitable story we all know and love... done well and acted brilliantly. Sure. We may not know all the details of the story - and I'm certainly not going to share them, but the staples are in place and guaranteed. The down on his luck private dick. The mysterious dame... and in this case, her sister as well. The rivalry of a competing detective and of course, a slew of villainous characters that are either quirky enough to be sinister, or just down right bad. We all know the players and general greedy concepts, and I feel it's that familiar setting that makes this film work. As for the players on the stage ladies and germs? How did they do? Bluntly... the cast are no slouches. Hell, you may even recognize a few yourself... meaning that we do have some experience on-set. That's not really the point however, not the one I want to make. All the characters within "Trouble Is My Business" feel right at home onscreen, meaning that the actors must have felt at home as well. Lines were corny sounding when they needed to be. Witty when it worked for the scene, and everything you expect from a film of this nature. Since this is a stylistic genre, I have no other way to describe the acting except to say it's exactly what you think it's going to be. Like the other production elements within the film, everything just seems to fit together nicely, creating a film that plays smooth as silk. Even the incredibly lengthy run-time of almost two hours - crazy for an indie low budget film - seems not all that long while you are watching. It's just one of those rare indie productions where everything managed to fall in place. I write that rather loosely, since the reality of things "falling into place" no doubt required a "lot" of hard work. To me, the viewer however, that magical feeling of everything just fitting together nicely, is a movie watchers blissful ignorance. I know, it's a lot of hard work that creates that feeling. A lot of hard work my eyes... and ears... are thankful for. I don't know what's being put into the water lately, but I've had the pleasure of watching a "lot" of independent, lower budget productions, that have been simply splendid. What a great year it has been - and maybe a little scary of a year for the traditional studio model of movie making. "Trouble Is My Business" ranks quite high on my best of the best scale. Did I mention the names on this scale are pleasantly longer than the last few years, yet not quite considered numerous? Quickly changing is the stigma independent, micro films have always been associated with. Crappy. Horrible acting and production. Campy, corny and laughable. Konkle and Powell's title helps raise that bar a little higher, and reduce the stigma in the process. This was a film I am glad I got to see. If this write-up helps gets even one more set of eyes viewing, it was all worth it. Bottom line? This is a fun, visually interesting movie. Congrats to the cast and crew for a job well... well done.

Movie Critic Kevin Ranson Reviews Trouble Is My Business directed by Tom Konkle

Review: ‘Trouble Is My Business’ (the final word in film noir) Posted on October 16, 2017 by Kevin Ranson “Passion. Murder. Betrayal. Just another day on the job.” Full disclosure: the reviewer rolled the dice and gambled a contribution to help fund this independent production. Private investigator Roland Drake (Tom Konkle) faces eviction from his office and his career after being disgraced during a missing persons case ending in tragedy. Ruined in the public eye and shunned by the law, everything seems over until redemption walks in: a curvy dark-haired beauty named Katherine Montemar… desperate to hire anyone who can locate her disappeared family members. Both vulnerable and in need of companionship, their undeniable attraction is cut short when Drake wakes next to a pool of blood and his new client vanished from his bed. After misdirecting his equally skilled but unscrupulous ex-partner Lew MacDonald (David Beeler) from discovering the potential crime scene on a suspicious chance visit, Drake is soon confronted by Katherine’s blonde sister Jennifer (Brittney Powell), armed with a fistful of photos and a .38 special. In 1940s Los Angeles where corrupt cops rule the city underworld and moral lines are anything but black and white, trouble is Roland Drake’s business… and business is good. Hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, and a mandatory MacGuffin are all part of the tradition we call film noir. “Guns, dames, and hats” are the order of the day in these brooding period pieces, a bygone era of Hollywood like westerns and musicals. There have been the occasional callbacks with films like L.A. Confidential, Sin City, and even the original Blade Runner repurposing it as a vision of the future — a detail mostly missing from the recent sequel. All of these undertakings require extensive budgets, finding or recreating the trappings and props of the time period, and to develop the visuals required to invoke the all-important atmosphere that defines the film style. Rarely are the words “independent” and “noir” uttered in reference to a feature-length film intended to celebrate and champion a new entry into this staple of the movie industry, but with the right combination of players, passion, and just long enough of a shoestring to fish spare change out of the sewer, can a compelling dark thriller become the end result? As evidenced by Trouble Is My Business, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Less a passion project than a labor of love, writer-director-actor Thomas Konkle gathered the necessary ingredients and managed to draw forth a film by sheer force of will. With years involved in the writing, planning, independent and personal financing, and using every movie-making trick imaginable, Trouble is to film noir what Once Upon a Time in the West was to the western: the final word. With classic elements, a fresh cast, and painstaking detail, Konkle has created a world both familiar and new. Twists, betrayal, and mystery are finely intertwined with the wit, violence, and eventuality of the genre. Locations are important to a production like this, but what couldn’t be found and rented had to be created — often digitally. While Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow buckled under the weight of “look what we can do,” Konkle puts his players in the foreground and allowed the story to dictate the effects, not the other way around. With talents like Jordana Capra as matriarch Evelyn Montemar and Vernon Wells as Detective Barry Tate, the production is nearly seemless and perhaps too-real in its detail, from meticulous editing to a sweeping soundtrack. It’s clear what the filmmakers wanted this to become, and the time put into the post production shows what can be done with today’s off-the-shelf filmmaking tools and the ingenuity of modern creators. Over the last five years, this reviewer has seen several independent productions shaped from concept to completion. From an old-time rocket ship carrying space rangers into the great beyond to a backwoods werewolf reneging on his deal with the devil, there’s no shortage of imagination out there while Hollywood continues to reboot television and movie franchises they never understood to begin with. Trouble sets itself apart in both ambition and execution, and the risk yielded a great reward: a film deserving to be seen and appreciated. Four skull recommendation out of four

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Photo stills of one of the love scenes from the noir movie starring Brittney Powell and Thomas Konkle called Trouble is My Business

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