Problem Child

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Problem Child

PG

1990

1h 21m

Comedy

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30 Reviews

43%

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50,000+ Ratings

Ben (John Ritter) is a good-hearted guy who's always wanted a son of his own, but so far he and his wife have had no success. The couple adopt Junior (Michael Oliver), a redheaded hellion who quickly makes their lives miserable. Disaster follows Junior wherever he goes, from camping trips that require emergency-room visits to birthday parties that turn into Grand Guignol affairs. When Ben's incensed family tells him to get rid of the boy, he starts to wonder if they might be right.

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Critics Consensus

Mean-spirited and hopelessly short on comic invention, Problem Child is a particularly unpleasant comedy, one that's loaded with manic scenery chewing and juvenile pranks.

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Michael Wilmington

Los Angeles Times

07/14/2014

Sound funny? The filmmakers here think so. They've jacked this loud, lame shrieker of a movie up to the highest decibels, both aural and visual, and rammed it in our faces with almost numbing aplomb.

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Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

05/21/2013

2/4

Some kids are born bad. Others achieve badness. And some have badness thrust upon them. The same can be said of movies.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Tribune

05/21/2013

2/4

Inside Dennis Dugan's uncertainly staged, awkwardly sentimental Problem Child is another movie fighting to get out-one that's much meaner and probably more interesting.

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

11/30/2022

Problem Child takes the theme of the mischievous child to an alarming, and sociopathic limit. [Full review in Spanish]

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Joaquin de Luna

El Pais (Spain)

03/27/2019

Terrible. [Full review in Spanish]

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Dennis King

Tulsa World

07/14/2014

1/4

It's misguided. It's not funny. And in its lame efforts to be irreverent and hip, it turns out to be just plain mean.

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Glenn

@Grappler Oct 19

The boy threw the cat in the grandfather's face after he heard him say some bad things about him. The grandfather fell down the stairs backwards. LOL, you have to watch the movie. It's funny because bad things happen to someone else. If this happened to you in real life I could see why you wouldn't think it wasn't so funny

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Jane L

@Dreameater2018 Aug 9

Watched this one as a child. Super funny! They don’t make them like they did back then because of our soft pc culture.

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Ace C

Jun 25

Idk why everyone hate the movie😭 I loved it and watched it throughout my childhood

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Stephen C

@bob25009 May 29

The best Universal Studios movie ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The worldwide gross is $72,270,891.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All ages admitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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thiago s

@Thiagostone May 24

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom.

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Noah G

@Noahgrimes3603 May 19

The Remake will be better than originals!

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Dennis Dugan

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Synopsis

Ben (John Ritter) is a good-hearted guy who's always wanted a son of his own, but so far he and his wife have had no success. The couple adopt Junior (Michael Oliver), a redheaded hellion who quickly makes their lives miserable. Disaster follows Junior wherever he goes, from camping trips that require emergency-room visits to birthday parties that turn into Grand Guignol affairs. When Ben's incensed family tells him to get rid of the boy, he starts to wonder if they might be right.

Director: Dennis Dugan
Producer: Robert Simonds
Screenwriter: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 11, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $53.5M
Runtime: 1h 21m
Sound Mix: Surround

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