"Should Married Men Go Home?" (VERY clumsy title) is another Stan and Ollie short film from 1928, so already over 90 years old and this is of course still from her silent film days. Don't be mistaken by a possibly way too much in your face soundtrack running along with the action. I preferred the muted version, the actual one. Anyway, McCarey and Parrott are writer and director here and taking that into account as well as the imprssive talent by the two lead actors I expected more here. The angering the wife sequence early on was pretty mediocre too, but still better than almost everything that followed afterwards. Sure seeing Laurel swinging the golf club was fun with his usual clumsiness and the duo's face expressions always deliver in my opinion, but this alone is not enough this time. Overall, especilaly story-wise, this was a fairly disappointing film I must say. They are going 100% for the slap stick and comedy this time, but the formula does not work. The big finale at the muddy part of the golf course is the negative highlight really and this was not half as funny as it could have been. And it fits right in with the lack of wit and real creativity to say lets just have them goof around in the mud. For way too long too. By the way I really would have been surprised if Laurel had not gotten his fair share of mud and dirt too after how Hardy really goes all in. Random people being hit by flying mud bombs is really not cutting the cake either, especially as we have not come across these characters before. Overall, a relatively disappointing Stan and Ollie short and I can see why this is nowhere near their most known works. Rightfully so. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
