Junior A review by Joe Chamberlain
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Danny DeVito; Emma Thompson & Frank Langella The only thing that you can say about Junior is that it is a disappointment, and a big one at that. Junior brings together Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito with director Ivan Reitman. These are the same men that brought us the very funny Twins. So foolish me, I was hoping for something that would at least come close to the level of quality of Twins. So much for hopes. Schwarzenegger and DeVito play two scientists (Doctors Hesse and Arbogast) who are working on a new drug that will reduce the possibility of miscarriage in pregnancy. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, they are denied permission to test this new drug on humans, and subsequently lose their funding. Still believing that their drug will work, they decide to test it anyway, on Hesse. So, Dr. Hesse (Schwarzenegger) artificially inseminates himself and begins taking the drug. Their theory is that if the drug can prevent a man from miscarrying, surely it will work on a woman.
Does the thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger pregnant sound funny or humorous to you? Well, it must have to the producers of Junior. Admittedly, Schwarzenegger has the comedic talent to pull it off. Perhaps if it had been done differently it might have actually been funny. But it wasn't, Schwarzenegger pregnant is goofy at best. The sight of Schwarzenegger running around going through the hormone imbalances that come with pregnancy, and the accompanying emotional swings, is not funny. Schwarzenegger comes very close to embarrassing himself with these antics. I kept thinking to myself, with the time Arnold wasted making this turkey he could have been making an action picture. Better yet, with Schwarzenegger, DeVito and Reitman all in the same place at the same time, why didn't they make a sequel to Twins? Anything would have been better than this mess.
Danny DeVito is wasted in this movie. His part could have been played by any joker they pulled in off the street. (After seeing the movie, if I was DeVito, I probably would have wished they had pulled someone in off the street.) Emma Thompson is wasted here as well. While Thompson is best known for her Jane Austin adaptations, she is also a fine comedian. Too bad she didn't get to use any of that talent here.
Am I being too hard on this film? I don't think so. Schwarzenegger and DeVito are two of my favorite actors in film today, and Ivan Reitman is one of the more talented directors in Hollywood. With a supporting cast of Emma Thompson and Frank Langella, the filmmakers really have to be trying hard to make a bad film. They certainly managed here. Maybe it was well intentioned, but unfortunately this is a movie that never should have been made.
If you are tempted to see this film, do yourself a favor and go rent Twins, a film that truly takes advantage of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito's comedic talents.
3/10
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