Junior (film)
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| Junior | |
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 Junior film poster |
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| Directed by | Ivan Reitman |
| Produced by | Ivan Reitman |
| Written by | Kevin Wade Chris Conrad |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Danny DeVito Emma Thompson |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 23 1994 (USA) |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Junior, released in 1994, is Arnold Schwarzenegger's third comedy film, which features him teamed up with Danny DeVito, following their previous collaboration, Twins and director Ivan Reitman, who also directed Schwarzenegger in that film and Kindergarten Cop. Junior is the second film ever to revolve around the world's first male pregnancy. The other was Rabbit Test.
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[edit] Production History
Junior was originally supposed to be a Hulk Hogan or a Christopher Lloyd film, but Hogan turned down the movie offer, as he was about to win the WCW title and didn't want this movie to make the title a joke, which he feared it would. Lloyd also turned the offer down, as he felt that if it wasn't good enough for a professional wrestler, it wouldn't be good enough for an actor.
[edit] Plot
Junior features Schwarzenegger as Alex Hesse, one member of a team of gynaecological scientists (himself and Dr. Larry Arbogast, played by DeVito) who have invented a new super-fertility drug, "Expectane", which will reduce the chances of a woman's body rejecting an embryo and thus causing a miscarriage.
When their research funding is withdrawn, and human experimentation is denied to them, they decide to pull a publicity stunt— an egg is taken from the ovum cryonics department, anonymously donated by the scientist who they share a lab with, Dr. Diane Reddin (Emma Thompson), fertilized with Alex's sperm, and finally placed in Alex's abdominal cavity, after which he is heavily dosed with Expectane, progesterone and oestrogen.
The main plot and the humour is then based around Alex undergoing the physical changes of pregnancy.
The experiment is only supposed to last for 3 months until they have the data they need to get sponsored by a Canadian institution, but Alex has a change of mind as he realizes this pregnancy is exactly what he needs to get out of the shell of he has always surrounded himself with, and actually goes through with the whole pregnancy. While Alex is pregnant, Larry has to hide him from the media and from the members of the university that used to fund their research, as all results of the research (a.k.a the baby) are university property. Eventually, Noah Banes, a previous colleague of Alex and Larry, finds out about the baby and is ready to have Alex locked up until the end of the pregnancy, but with Larry's help Alex manages to escape. He leaves the city and hides out at a home for expecting mothers (disguised as a woman).
Later Alex gives birth by caesarian section and keeps the baby. The baby is a girl who gets the name Junior.
There is also a romantic side plot about Diane falling in love with him, before finding out that Alex is pregnant and that they used her egg to impregnate him, then getting upset with the whole situation, before she goes to Alex and tells him that it doesn't matter if he is the pregnant one; she is still the mother, and he is still the father. Alex agrees with her, and the two reconcile, shortly before Junior is born. At the end of the movie, Diane is pregnant with their (technically second) child.
Another part of the plot is Larry's ex-wife, Angela's (played by Pamela Reed) getting pregnant with another man so soon after the divorce, which was mainly caused by the fact that Larry couldn't get her pregnant in the first place. At the end of the movie, Larry delivers his ex-wife's child, and the two of them decide to raise the baby boy (Jake) together.
[edit] Reaction
Unfortunately, the film received poor reviews, having a 34 % "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [1] Many critics cited that it was a one-joke film, and otherwise didn't hold much weight.
The film, probably due to its lack of appeal, grossed only a little more than half its budget ($ 60 million), making only 36 million domestically. [2]
[edit] External links
- Junior at the Internet Movie Database
