Problem Child (1990 film)
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| Problem Child | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover for Problem Child (1990). |
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| Directed by | Dennis Dugan |
| Produced by | Robert Simonds |
| Written by | Scott Alexander Larry Karaszewski |
| Starring | John Ritter Michael Oliver Gilbert Gottfried Amy Yasbeck Jack Warden Michael Richards Peter Jurasik |
| Music by | Miles Goodman The Beach Boys |
| Cinematography | Peter Lyons Collister |
| Editing by | Tom Finan Daniel P. Hanley Mike Hill |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1990 |
| Running time | 81 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Problem Child (1990) is a comedy film about an orphan child that deliberately wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. The script was thought to be a parody of the novel and 1956 film The Bad Seed.[1]
It starred John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Gilbert Gottfried, Jack Warden, Michael Richards and Michael Oliver as "Junior".
Not a favorite with the critics, the film proved much more successful with the public and became a "surprise hit"[2] of the year, spawning two sequels and an animated series.
Contents |
[edit] Taglines
- "He's So Bad, Even The Nuns Refused To Keep Him!"
- "Attila the Hun. Ivan the Terrible. Al Capone. They were all seven once."
[edit] Synopsis
An adoptive parent discovers that some children are given up by their biological parents for very good reasons in this dark comedy. Ben Healy is a pleasant but brow-beaten yuppie working for his father "Big Ben", a tyrannical sporting goods dealer. Ben would love to have a son, but his wife Flo has been unable to conceive. Ben approaches less-than-scrupulous adoption agent Igor Peabody with his dilemma, and Igor presents Ben and Flo with a cute seven-year-old boy, "Junior". However, Junior is hardly a model child; mean-spirited and incorrigible, the child leaves a path of serious destruction in his wake, and is even pen pals with Martin Beck, a notorious serial killer. After the cat ends up in the hospital, the house catches on fire, and Junior displays his effective but unethical method for winning in Little League, Ben is having serious doubts about Junior when Beck escapes from jail and decides to kidnap his faithful correspondent, along with Junior's new mother.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Ritter | Ben Healy |
| Michael Oliver | "Junior" |
| Amy Yasbeck | Flo Healy |
| Michael Richards | Martin Beck |
| Jack Warden | "Big Ben" Healy |
| Gilbert Gottfried | Igor Peabody |
| Peter Jurasik | Roy |
[edit] PC franchise
[edit] Sequels
Because of the box-office success of Problem Child, there were two sequels:
Problem Child 2 (1991) brought back the original cast in their original roles and picked up where the first film ended. Amy Yasbeck, however, was given a new role with a new dynamic totally opposite her original character.
Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995), the third and final film, was a made-for-TV film and included neither Ritter, Oliver nor Yasbeck after which the Problem Child franchise ended. Gilbert Gottfried and Jack Warden reprised their respective roles as Mr. Peabody and Big Ben Healy.
[edit] Animated TV series
There was a short-lived animated TV series based on all three films that aired in 1993.
Gilbert Gottfried was the only original cast member to be featured as a voice-over actor in this installment.
The TV series was released on four separate VHS videos on October 10, 1995.
[edit] Special DVD release
| DVD cover | DVD information |
|---|---|
 |
Problem Child "Tantrum Pack"; packaged with Problem Child 2
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Shortly after the death of John Ritter, Problem Child and Problem Child 2 were released together on DVD in the U.S. on March 2, 2004, as a package entitled Problem Child Tantrum Pack.
The DVD was released as a single sided disc with both movies on a main menu. On the DVD each of the submenus have their original theatrical trailer.
[edit] Trivia
- The poster for the movie was a spoof of the poster for Parenthood (1989).
- In the film Cape Fear, Robert DeNiro, playing the part of an eccentric, newly released prisoner, watching a comedy film in the cinema, laughs so loudly and continuously that his 'enemy' sitting just one row behind him, with his wife, gets irritated enough to leave. The film being shown is Problem Child.
- It was considered by some to be offensive towards adopted children, particularly when Mrs. Healy yells (before deciding to adopt Junior), "I don't wear secondhand clothes, and I don't want a secondhand kid!". Later another girl upsets Junior by saying that he "is not even a 'real kid,' he's adopted!" Both lines were overdubbed in TV edits.
- Closing theme song Problem Child was the 70th single release for The Beach Boys (Problem Child/Tutti Frutti (with Little Richard) (RCA 2646/July, 1990).
- The fake cat thrown at "Big Ben" causing him to fall down the stairs was obviously meant to offset any complaints of "animal cruelty".
- In the scene where Ben Healy angrily walks up to Junior's bedroom is an obvious reference to the film The Shining (1980).
- When Mr. Healy is about to spank Junior in his bedroom, the position of the globe on his bed changes.
- When Ben is standing on the bridge watching the truck drive away with his wife in the back, he has the rifle in his hand. Ben and Junior turn around to walk back to the car, and the rifle disappears. It seems unlikely he would have left it lying on the bridge.
- The edited-for-TV version of the film that airs on the USA Network features footage not found in the original theatrical/home video version. Strangely, one of these scenes (Junior terrorizing the milkman with an RC helicopter) is pictured on the VHS film box despite obviously not being there.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hicks, Chris. Problem Child. deseretnews.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
- ^ Hicks, Chris. Problem Child 2. deseretnews.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
