#274: Double Trouble

Release Date: February 14th, 1992

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: Charles Osburn and Kurt Wimmer

Directed by: John Paragon

1.5 Stars

Double Trouble is the first movie I’ve seen starring the Barbarian Brothers, the on-screen personas of bodybuilding twins Peter and David Paul. 

It’s not a good movie, and that’s too bad, because the brothers have something. There’s a warmth to their on-screen chemistry that’s nice, and their cartoonish muscles and laid back gym bro energy are endearing.

They need the right kind of vehicle for their strengths, though. Double Trouble is not it. The movie is about twins, one a cop and the other a crook, who must team up to take down an evil money launderer in Los Angeles. The movie has corny dad jokes one moment, and graphic violence the next. Director John Paragon (who coincidentally played Jambi the Genie on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, of all things) has little to no control over the tone of the film. By the third act, Double Trouble feels like bumper bowling, the story just knocking around, losing energy, and taking forever to get to the pins.

I don’t think the Barbarian Brothers are to blame. Get them a better script and an experienced director and I think these two meatheads could have been more than just Temu Arnolds.