#4 in my ranking of Ivan Reitman’s filmography.
This is probably the most rote and standard script Ivan Reitman had made a movie from at this point in his career. Continuing his trend of working with big name stars on high concept comedy/thriller combinations, he makes a light, entertaining film with the best balance between the looseness of the comedy with the tightness of the thriller/dramatic elements since Ghostbusters. It still goes for earnest pathos by the end, which Reitman had never successfully done, but he actually sort of pulls it off in the end. Save for the unusual lighting in the bottle success of Ghostbusters, this is Reitman’s most complete and rounded film.
Detective John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is on the tail of drug dealer Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson). When Cullen kills a man who has information about where Cullen’s estranged wife and son are, in a small town in Oregon. Kimble arrests Cullen on the basis of witness testimony from the man’s girlfriend, Cindy (Alix Koromzay), and gets the information about where Cullen’s family is but not who they are. So, he and his new partner, Detective O’Hara (Pamela Reed), are sent to Oregon to go undercover. She will be a kindergarten teacher at the school the kid is supposed to be in. He will be her husband. The problem is that O’Hara gets a really bad case of food poisoning that lays her out for a few days, and Kimble decides to take over.
So, we have our fish out of water story: John Kimble, tough as nails, operates by his own rules, and large as a house police officer given control of a room full of six-year-old children. It is ripe comedic material, and Reitman and Schwarzenegger understand the assignment rather perfectly. We never really lose sense of a ticking clock (though it does get pushed aside for a long stretch while Cullen is temporarily in custody), but the focus feels appropriately on the antics in the classroom. We go from complete chaos as Kimble gets swarmed and swamped and overwhelmed by a bunch of toddlers to Kimble using his police skills to get them in line. It’s an amusing little arc carried out with charm by Schwarzenegger and clear filmmaking from Reitman. It’s easily the best part of the film.
Where the film works decently well but not as well is in the investigation of who is Cullen’s wife and son. There are a few suspects, the best part being interviews with the kids who describe their dads, and Kimble tries to get invested in the lives of a few of them. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of mystery around this, it isn’t the point, but the main focus ends up being the single mother, and fellow teacher in the school, Joyce (Penelope Ann Miller) and her son Dominic (Christian and Joseph Cousins). Being a standard Hollywood film from the late 80s, there’s little question that a romance will blossom between our lead and this pretty young lady who could be at the center of the hero’s focus. Thankfully, the film doesn’t take it too far, introducing her too late to do much more than have the two make puppy-eyes to each other every once in a while.
The thriller elements come back in the end with Cullen freed by the machinations of his psychotic mother, Eleanor (Carroll Baker), coming to Oregon to track down Dominic, and there’s a nicely extended bit of tension as Cullen sneaks around. It escalates nicely and comes to a good conclusion where everyone has something to do. It’s solid, unflashy thriller stuff.
Is this great cinema? Not at all. The whole concept makes no sense (why send LA undercover cops to Oregon? Why send the kid to school the day after you know that his psychotic, drug-dealing father knows where they are?). Performances range from winning (the leads) to passable (the kids). There’s no real drama, but there is consistent and light entertainment to be had from beginning to end.
Really, I enjoy this film pretty thoroughly. It’s fun. It carries a couple of different genres decently. It effectively uses its lead in the small acting box he operates in. It’s a good 110 minutes at the movies.
Originally published here
English (US) · 