Junior is an enjoyable role change comedy from Director Ivan Reitman and co-starring the stars of his earlier comedy Twins; Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Instead of diametrically opposite twins, they play Obstetricians involved in groundbreaking research. The problem is, when the funding is pulled from the project, one of them must become a human guinea pig… for a fertility drug.

If you’ve already seen Twins, you’ll probably already be able to picture the type of characters that they play. Dr Alex Hesse (Arnie) is an emotionally repressed, intense and honourable doctor from Austria, whereas Dr Larry Arbogast (Danny) is someone you wouldn’t really want to trust with a cat, let alone a pregnant woman. He does have a good heart though, albeit slightly hidden…

Added to these two are Dr Dianna Reddin (Emma Thompson), a ditzy English doctor, and Noah Banes (everyone’s favourite bad guy, Frank Langella) who heads the university where the research is based. Slightly complicating matters even more is Larry’s ex-wife Angela (Pamela Reed), who just happens to be pregnant.

With all these pregnancies going on, FDA regulations being broken left right and centre, good intentions (and hormones) flying around madly, and Ivan Reitman at the helm, you’d be forgiven for thinking this would get a bit mad at times. You would, of course, be right. What Reitman does best is light-hearted comedy, and Junior is no exception. There’s lots of humour, most arising from the gender battles that take place, and it succeeds in being funny most of the time. It doesn’t do to think too deeply about things, but that’s true of most comedies. The main cast members do a great job, and as in Twins Schwarzeneggar and DeVito make a good comedic team, naturally bouncing off each other (not literally, of course). Emma Thompson is not in all honesty an actress I would consider as having a natural aptitude for comedy, but she plays her role very well. The scenes with her and Arnie are without doubt the funniest in the movie.

There’s not a great deal more to say about this film, really. It takes a simple but incomprehensible premise – a man having a baby – throws in a sinister bad guy (and let’s face it, few people can radiate malevolent evil as well as Langella), and makes a very enjoyable comedy out of it. It’s not a classic, but it’s a film that most people will enjoy. I’d particularly recommend it if you liked Twins.


Other Information

Year of release: 1994
Rating: PG (UK) PG-13 (USA) – there’s really not much offensive content in this movie, a few bits of bad language and a slightly adult theme in some ways I guess, but generally I can’t think of many people who might be offended by it.
Runtime: 109 minutes – it was paced very well and the length seemed entirely appropriate. It didn’t feel too long but there’s probably not much more they could have done with the idea.

The song "Look What Love Has Done" from the movie was nominated for both an Oscar and Golden Globe. Arnold Schwazzeneger and Emma Thompson were both nominated for Golden Gloves for their performances.

Quotes

Arnie has to explain his masculine appearance when pretending to be a pregnant woman:

“When I was a sportswoman on the East German Olympic Track and Field team, they dispensed anabolic steroids as freely as here in America they dole out Gator-Ade.”

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Larry isn’t impressed by Alex’s plans:

”You think you're the first clown whoever woke up and said ‘I'm bored, I think I'll have a kid!’”

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When one of the characters finds out she’s going to be a mummy… or possibly daddy?

”Well, call me old-fashioned, but I'll be damned if I'm having a child with a man I've never even slept with.”

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Links

Frank Langella also played the bad man in Dave, starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.


Top Ten Comedies


Recommended: Yes