Problem Child (film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Dennis Dugan |
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| Written by | Scott Alexander Larry Karaszewski |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Miles Goodman |
| Cinematography | Peter Lyons Collister |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $72.2 million |
Problem Child is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and produced by Robert Simonds. The film stars John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Gilbert Gottfried, Jack Warden, Michael Richards, and Michael Oliver.
The film opens with a woman leaving a bassinet on the porch of a fancy home; the baby, Junior, promptly pees on the woman who picks him up. From there, he is repeatedly discarded at various homes throughout many years by guardians who have grown tired of his destructive behavior—which includes throwing a rattle at the window, giving a cat soap to eat, using a vacuum cleaner to suck up the fish tank, and demolishing a mobile home with a bulldozer in retaliation for his favorite toys being stepped on—until he is eventually deposited at a Catholic orphanage, where he continues to wreak havoc on the strict nuns.
Benjamin "Ben" Healy is a pleasant but brow-beaten husband, yuppie, and baseball coach working for his father, Big Ben, a tyrannical sporting goods dealer who is running for mayor. Recently, he has discovered that his father intends to sell his store and the land to a Japanese company rather than leave it to him; when he asks why, Big Ben reveals that it is because his son "stubbornly refuses to follow his example" by adopting an honest work ethic instead of a ruthless drive to usurp. He would love to have a son, but his selfish, gold-digging wife, Florence ("Flo" for short), has been unable to conceive. Ben and Flo are never invited to parties because they do not have a kid. Eventually Ben is able to convince Flo into adopting a child. They then approach a less-than-trustworthy adoption agent named Igor Peabody with the dilemma, and Igor presents them with Junior.
However, Junior is hardly a model child; apparently mean-spirited and incorrigible. He leaves a path of serious destruction in his wake, and is even pen pals with Martin Beck, a notorious serial killer called the Bow Tie Killer. He sets his room on fire using a clown lamp and throws Fuzzball, the family cat, at Big Ben and he falls down the stairs. He messes up a camping trip with the neighbors by peeing on the campfire, and manipulating a practical joke played on the kids by their father, Roy, Ben's obnoxious friend who greatly enjoys rubbing his good fortunes in Ben's face, by luring a real black bear to the campsite. He makes Ben believe a bear is attacking when it is really Roy in a bear costume who gets hit with a frying pan. Hearing Junior laugh, Ben finds out he is responsible for making him hit Roy.
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