Trouble Along the Way

Starring: John Wayne, Donna Reed, Charles Coburn, Tom Tully, Sherry Jackson, Marie Windsor, James Dean (uncredited)
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Rating: Approved
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
1953

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A failed football coach (John Wayne) gets another shot of redemption, especially in the eyes of his daughter (Sherry Jackson) as he gets the chance to coach at a small Catholic college.

Review:

Tim: Sometimes you watch a movie and know exactly what you think about it. Sometimes, you watch a film like Trouble Along the Way and come away from it feeling quite torn. There were some things I liked about the film, some things I disliked. That makes it difficult to finally weigh in with your verdict. I've gone back-and-forth in the week or so since I watched this movie. I'm going to come down on the side of calling this a "good" movie, although I need to acknowledge its flaws.

Part of the reason I struggle with this film is that the story feels a bit all-over-the-place. We're introduced to this small Catholic university and the budget struggles that potentially will force the school to close. It feels like a religion-focused movie like Going My Way or The Bells of St. Mary's. But then, we're introduced to John Wayne a failed football coach who is struggling to raise a daughter on his own. He has his own family drama, including the possibility of losing his daughter to his self-absorbed ex-wife. These two stories come together (with some romance thrown in), but it feels like disparate elements that never fully mix together. I enjoyed the idea of a small Catholic university struggling to stay open. I enjoyed the idea of a football coach getting one more chance of glory. I enjoyed the idea of a father trying to maintain custody over his daughter while falling in love with the Social Services worker trying to take her away. Each of these felt compelling in their own right. That is partially why I enjoyed the movie- each felt like a worthwhile topic to explore. The weird thing is that the movie ends up being less than the sum of its parts. This film is less effective because it's a story about a Catholic university to hires a failed football coach to revive its program in an attempt to raise enough money to keep it open. The elements never fully blend together, which prevents the movie from realizing its full potential. That's the biggest issue with the film.

I thought John Wayne did a good job in the role. He's still able to be himself, but it was refreshing to see him not as a cowboy or a military officer. It was a nice change of pace and still allowed Wayne to deliver his hyper-masculine performance that his fans were clamoring to see. Donna Reed was solid in her role as well. I read that she and Wayne didn't get along well (which didn't surprise me). I wouldn't say they had a great deal of chemistry, but looked as if they both put on a brave face to get through the movie. Charles Coburn added a great supporting performance as Father Burke. His performance was essential to the film. He makes you care about him as a character, so we become invested in the whole university angle. Sherry Jackson was excellent as Wayne's daughter. Her street-smart performance emerged as one of the most memorable aspects of the film. Marie Windsor was given a fairly one-dimensional role, so she didn't do much to impress as she was so obviously the "villain". I would have liked to see more subtlety there. As a whole, the cast was fine- good enough.

Now, one of the other issues I had was the conclusion of the film. It kind of feels like a mess to me. Wayne's character does some pretty moronic things in the movie. He breaks the confidence the university showed him by engaging in some shady, dishonest, probably illegal behavior. It was hard to watch that develop and believe we were supposed to root for him. The movie kind of hinges on that- that we want Wayne's character to succeed, to keep his daughter, get the girl, and save the university. I didn't feel that at all. The complete lack of integrity made me feel like he deserved the worst that could be dolled out for him. That doesn't happen. How the story is resolved doesn't make a lot of logical sense and was bothersome. It's this point that I am still struggling with- a big part of me believes the unsatisfactory ending should pull the movie down even more. I'm not sure, but I'm going to stick with my gut for now. It certainly hurts the movie.

I may never feel fully confident about my thoughts regarding Trouble Along the Way. I think director Michael Curtiz does just enough for me to consider this a good movie, but I'm really bothered by many of the film's flaws. I'm probably being a bit too kind to the film, but I didn't have a bad time watching it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Going My Way, The Bells of St. Mary's, Donovan's Reef