Problem Child (1990)

"Problem Child" released in late summer 1990 (thus predating "Home Alone" by a few months) was a surprise "hit" despite scathing reviews. How this film became a hit is beyond me because this is a completely inept and awful film. It's amateur hour from beginning to end as to its direction, writing, and acting.The plot: a childless suburban couple consisting of a good-hearted, kind husband (John Ritter) and his shallow, social-status seeking wife (Amy Yasbeck) are conned into adopting the "problem child" of a Catholic orphanage. This repulsive child named "Junior" and played by the repulsive looking and utterly talentless Michael Oliver promptly turns their lives into a dysfunctional hell as he plays pranks on and physically assaults anyone who crosses him. Michael Richards in a pre-Seinfeld role makes an appearance as Junior's idol, a bow-tie wearing serial killer, and Jack Warden collects a paycheck playing John Ritter's creep-politician dad.Director Dennis Dugan, whose career has inexplicably spanned decades thanks to his long working association with Adam Sandler, either is completely talentless (a strong possibility considering his work with Sandler) or he simply didn't care (another strong possibility considering his work with Sandler). The performances across the board are unspeakably awful with the scenes with the kid actors appearing to have been done in one take with minimal direction. The performances of the various child actors shouldn't have passed muster for a grade-school play production, let alone a feature film! Still, the late John Ritter (a very likable actor) and Michael Richards were professionals and did what they could with their horribly written characters, but no one emerged with their reputations enhanced from this film. Due to being it being a surprise hit with undemanding kids, Ritter got roped into the even worse sequel but said never again to continuing on with the series.The ONLY redeeming value of this film is that it's so inept and so awful that its pure wretchedness actually may provide some unintentional entertainment value. One can laugh AT IT rather than WITH IT. Thus, I notched-up my rating to two stars instead of one.

Problem Child is directed by Dennis Dugan and starring John Ritter, Jack Warden, Michael Oliver, Gilbert Gottfried, Michael Richards. Ben Healy (John Ritter) and his social climbing wife Flo adopt Junior, a fun-loving seven year old who is truly acts up badly when they can't bare children of their own. But they soon discover that he is a little monster when he turns a camping trip, a birthday party and even a baseball game into comic nightmares. This is sprite really funny-- that family movies today would be more like they were in the 80's and 90's, if only they were a lot edgier and got away with a lot more,. Today's family's comedy are too tame and politically correct. Great movie, and you hit the nail on the head about all the PC in every damn thing these days. You rarely see raunchy humor in a kid's movie these days…(Animal abuse, sex jokes, etc. etc. and a high speed chase with guns) but it fail to live up to the idea of being "Family-friendly" which kind of hurts the movie in viewer-ship and thus it kind of bomb in the box office. Just because it has a kid in it, doesn't mean it's a family/kid movie. If you watch the movie—you can clearly see that the problem child isn't really the problem, but those who he is surround with. Flo (play by Amy Yasbeck) is a selfish, gold-digging stepmother. Junior's grandpa is a a tyrannical sporting goods dealer who treat his only son play by John Ritter badly. John Ritter's character is the only character in the film that kind of likable. Gilbert Gottfried plays the agent that brings John Ritter's character to Junior and Ben really tries to be the greatest father ever, but fails to keep Junior in check when Junior looks up to the wrong person in Michael Richards. The question is, does Ben save Junior from the wrong path, or does Junior follow Richard's character into a life of crime. Watch it to find out.

This kid is rather bad, but in no way do they make him the type that outsmarts adults and can foil experienced thieves at every turn. No, he is not so much a brat, as he is a kid with severe emotional problems. A nice couple looking to adopt get rather suckered into adopting him and while the husband is a bit more willing to give this kid a chance the mother is not. Through in a bizarre Michael Richards character and the always annoying Gilbert Gottfried and you have yourself a rather bad movie with a few laughs in it here and there. I actually prefer the sequel to this film as I like the fact they brought Amy Yasbeck back as a different more likable character as there are one to many characters in this film that are thoroughly unlikable as it is. Even the kid is rather annoying at first in this one, and they kind of chill him out in the sequel too. The plot is simple enough though as the prospective parents go to adopt this kid that they think is great by the way the orphanage is throwing a party as they depart, they soon realize they have themselves a little hellion. Add to that this little hellion getting into contact with a convict of some sort. Not sure about this character, at first I thought it was supposed to be his real father or something. Not all that good, but I will pick this ahead of that Culkin kid any day of the week.

I don't really understand why this movie only got a 4 something review, or was it three? I'm not really sure, but really this movie? Gosh, I remember this when I was small. Every time it would be previewed in the TV, I would sit down and wait for a laugh fest. I remember laughs, wheezes and me holding my stomach while watching this movie. I don't care if it's real or not but then again, exaggerations are okay if they give you a good time. Right? Or am I right?Also, the other thing that I really liked was that this child Jr. was a genius (or not because it's purely fictitious). I love the schemes and the fact that he handled all of it with a maniacal and evil grin was even better. Gosh!I love this kid! And he looks like a little angel with those freckles on his nose! Awwww... Who wouldn't love that kid?