Soup to Nuts

The Three Stooges became famous for their moronic humor based on making silly faces, goofing around and physically assaulting each other to the accompaniment of various noises and shrieks. However, you won’t see this type of humor in Soup to Nuts, which involves a few characters working in a costume shop. At the beginning, the shop’s old owner declares bankruptcy and a new owner comes in to take over the business and immediately falls in love with his daughter. And that’s pretty much all there is to the story (firefighters somehow figure into it, but that’s not important). The film isn’t so much about the plot and the characters as it is about a linear string of more or less humorous gags, which do not in any way advance the plot; rather, the filmmakers simply just threw them in wherever they seemed to fit, and due to the age of the film, most of them come across as corny from today’s perspective. Furthermore, they are often predictable (when the shop owner points out an ingenious trap for the thief, it is obvious that he will get caught in it himself in the course of the plot). In spite of that, the gags serve a purpose thanks to their endearing naïveté. Overall, Soup to Nuts is a relatively pleasant and amusing comedy, which is aided by several playful directorial ideas, flowing dialogue and a modest runtime. (19/02/2021)