Problem Child

This movie was great when I was 7, and it's still great now that I'm 17. First of all, it never encouraged me to misbehave--if it did so to someone else's kids then I question that person's ability to parent. Second, some of the scenes were downright hilarious, especially the slapstick/visual humor that I got then, and the more sophisticated verbal humor that the adults use that I get now. It produced memories that make me smile to this day: "Look, a giraffe!" "Look, a fist!" Michael Richards was pure genius casting as the Bow-Tie Killer. I'll concede that this movie is no bastion of film making excellence, but it's good for a few unsophisticated laughs.

"Problem Child", according to many, is a horrible film in most every way. The film is apparently not good for kids to watch because of all the evil and nasty things Junior does and it has a metascore of 27 and an IMDB score of 5.3....both of which are pretty bad. Despite all this, I somehow like the film...which would make many of my friends and family doubt my sanity. Call it a guilty pleasure!

The story is about a boy who is thoroughly rotten and spends most of the film tormenting those around him...even after he's adopted from the orphanage by a nice but incredibly naive man (John Ritter). Afterwards, the new dad ends up spending most of the movie apologizing to everyone for the atrocities the kid committed.

For me, I loved watching most of the vile and awful things Junior did...which is NOT typical, I know. The problem I had with the film was the ending. While Junior was like Charles Manson Jr. throughout the story, the schmaltzy ending simply didn't ring true in the least. You would think Junior would love traveling the country committing acts of terror with his pen pal, an escaped maniac from prison! For this reason, I give the film a 6...and had the ending been better I would have scored it higher. I know, I know....I should be ashamed of myself for liking this mostly heartless story...but I am not.

I really enjoyed this film - which was truly different.

To be honest, I'm absolutely fed up with portrays of children (especially in commercials and family movies). Children are always portrayed as so cuuuuuuute and nice - actually, I'm worried about getting tooth decay because of the sweetness involved.

Problem Child is just different - the child is a complete evil brat which causes havoc during the whole movie.

Basically, the film concentrates on showing the evil side of children - and yes, people, there is a cruelty in children. Do you remember your own childhood? The bully who loved to harass weaker children? How about children treat outsiders, like fat/ugly peers? What about kids torturing animals like flies or frogs?

Sure - this comedy is far of and unrealistic, but so are cuuuuuuute and sweet family movies.

So - I quite like the movie, it's a black comedy which is a nice counterpoint to sweet & cute comedies like Home Alone.

7 / 10

Man, some people have no sense of humor. When I saw this movie as a youngin i didn't get it much. Then I saw it again a few years later and I busted a gut. If you don't want your kids to see it, don't let them. Don't ruin it for the rest of us.

Problem Child 2 was pretty funny, but Problem Child 3 (made for TV) really blew. They couldn't even get the rights to "Bad to the Bone."

WELL, this movie is pretty corny. The characters are weird, a little overly dramatic, and strange! When I was a kid, I watched this movie and laughed with it. Now that I am much older, I watch it and laugh AT it. The pranks Junior plays are funny, but otherwise this movie is just plain weird! Same goes for the sequel--very predictable, corny jokes and sappy ending (except the sequel's end was better.) Regardless, this is kind of a decent movie and is still enjoyable. HOWEVER, don't expect a lot of adventure and excitement!