Problem Child 2
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| Problem Child 2 | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Brian Levant |
| Produced by | Robert Simonds |
| Written by | Scott Alexander Larry Karaszewski |
| Starring | John Ritter Michael Oliver Jack Warden Laraine Newman Amy Yasbeck Ivyann Schwan |
| Music by | David Kitay |
| Cinematography | Peter Smokler |
| Editing by | Lois Freeman-Fox Robert P. Seppey |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures Imagine Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | July 3, 1991 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Gross revenue | $25,104,700[1] |
| Preceded by | Problem Child (1990) |
| Followed by | Problem Child 3 (1995) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Problem Child 2 is the 1991 comedy sequel to the 1990 "surprise hit" Problem Child; a continuation of the exploits of an adopted orphan child who deliberately wreaks havoc everywhere he goes.
This second installment in the franchise did not fare as well as its predecessor both with the critics and at the box-office.
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[edit] Plot
The film's storyline picks up where the first film ended. Ben Healy is now the sole parent of Junior. He has decided the best thing for himself and Junior is to make a fresh start by traveling several states away to a town called Mortville. Junior is happy to be in such a nice house with Ben; however, he sees other women "coming onto" his father as a threat to their time together. Mortville is a community in which the women greatly outnumber the men; hence, Ben is courted by so many single women, and Junior attempts to their chances with Ben. Much of Mortville is owned by the mean-spirited LaWanda Dumore, who sees Ben applying for a loan at her bank, and makes plans to ensnare him, herself having to compete for men in the community. In a further sense of irony, Junior attends the local elementary school, where the antagonistic Mr. Peabody is now employed as the school's principal. Although Junior is eight years of age, Peabody advances him to sixth grade, in order to have Junior graduate from elementary school at the end of the year, thus ensuring he will leave Peabody's presence. When Junior attends his sixth-grade class, he find everyone -- including the teacher -- to be intimidated by a hulking and intellectually lazy bully, to which Junior is the only one to point out his stupidity, earning him a new enemy. Junior also gets a new rival, a girl, named Trixie, who shares his fondness for playing pranks. When the bully tries to harm Junior by pushing a satellite dish off the school roof, it hits Ben instead, who finds himself in the care of a caring, attractive school nurse, named Annie, (Amy Yasbeck in a different role from the first movie), who is later revealed to be a single mother with her hands full because of Trixie's troublemaking. "Big" Ben Healy has located Ben in Mortville, and abruptly moves in with him, admitting his sporting goods store has gone bankrupt, and he is broke. LaWanda also moves in, renovating Ben's house, and trying to pass herself off as a caring bride-to-be. She re-decorates Junior's bedroom in a clown motif, which he despises. Ben believes he should re-marry to have a woman in the home, and Ben's father wants to marry into LaWanda's money. Junior sees LaWanda for whom she really is, but is not believed by Ben, due to his numerous misbehaviors. Eventually, Junior and Trixie realize it would be best if their parents married each other, so the two kids must work together to ensure Ben does not marry LaWanda.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Ritter | Ben Healy |
| Michael Oliver | Junior Healy |
| Jack Warden | Big Ben Healy |
| Laraine Newman | Lawanda Dumore |
| Amy Yasbeck | Annie Young |
| Ivyann Schwan | Trixie Young |
| Gilbert Gottfried | Mr. Peabody |
| Paul Willson | Smith |
[edit] Special DVD release
Problem Child and Problem Child 2 were released together on DVD in the U.S. on March 2, 2004, nearly six months after the death of John Ritter, 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, the submenus for each of the films has that film's original theatrical trailer. There are no bonus features, not even the deleted scenes that are shown in TV airings. Furthermore, both movies are featured in a cropped fullscreen format.
The package does not contain the third film, the made-for-TV Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995). The R2 DVD Tantrum Pack contains all three films, which were released in the UK shortly after the passing of John Ritter.
[edit] See also
- Problem Child (1990 film) (1990)
- Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995)
[edit] Errors
In the scene where Little Ben tells Big Ben that Jr's bedroom is all they have, you can clearly see that there is an empty bedroom behind them in the other room (this could have been a poorly constructed lie on Little Ben's part to discourage his father).
[edit] Trivia
- In the first classroom scene, Mr. Thorn is writing rules on the blackboard, and at the bottom it says, "No Slackers." Mr. Thorn is played by James Tolkan, who played Mr. Strickland in the "Back to the Future" series, and was fond of calling both Marty and other young men "slackers".
- Amy Yasbeck, who played Flo Healy in the first movie, appears here as Annie Young. Amy Yasbeck was also John Ritter's wife in real-life.
- The television version which notably aired on USA Network and, most recently, TBS, features scenes not in theatrical/home video release.
- In the scene with the neighbour Aaron Berger mocking Junior at the barbecue promping him to tamper with the cooker causing an explosion, Junior clenches his fists and hot air gathers around him. Clearly this is a take on the 1984 movie Firestarter starring Drew Barrymore.
[edit] Scenes cut from theatrical version but present in USA airings
- Junior's first face-to-face encounter with Trixie (in the school hallways), in which she puts a sign on his back.
- Nurse Young treating a scrape on Junior's arm.
- Nurse Young tells Trixie she'll take her to "Pizza-riffic". Cutting this scene created a plot-hole, as without it we don't know why Junior dragged Ben off to this restaurant.
- Additional Ben/Nurse Young dialogue when their kids go missing.
- Additional footage of LaWanda insulting Junior.
[edit] References
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102719/trivia
