Themes: Experiments Gone Awry, Doctors and Patients, Expecting a Baby
Main Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Emma Thompson, Frank Langella, Pamela Reed
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Ultimate manly man Arnold Schwarzenegger learns what it's like to be an expectant mother in director Ivan Reitman's high-concept comedy. Schwarzenegger plays Dr. Hess, a medical researcher working on a revolutionary drug to help mothers carry endangered infants to term. When government regulations prevent Dr. Hess from testing the drug through normal channels, his partner Dr. Arbogast (Danny DeVito) develops an unorthodox solution: they will steal a female egg and implant it in Hess, who will carry the child himself. Predictably, much of the subsequent humor centers on the incongruous sight of the muscular Schwarzenegger undergoing the trials and tribulations of pregnancy, from morning sickness to labor pains. Emma Thompson returns to her comic roots and provides romantic interest as an incorrigibly clumsy but intelligent scientist who catches on to Hess' deception. Reitman, Schwarzenegger, and DeVito had previously had a hit with Twins (1988), which revolved around a similarly ludicrous medical premise, but they failed to repeat that film's success here, as audiences largely ignored the film and reviewers criticized the humor as disappointingly obvious. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
High-concept films are defined by the ability to boil the plot down to a single sentence. Junior can be pitched in three words -- Arnold Schwarzeneggar pregnant. Once that set-up was agreed to, it is fairly obvious that very little work went into the actual script. Arnie's glowing with expectancy and the woefully underappreciated Pamela Reed as his pregnant friend bring forth the only real laughs in the film. The sequence of the two of them bingeing on junk food while trading stories is easily the best scene in the film. Emma Thompson tries her hardest, but she is undone by the glaring fact that she has been given no real character to play. Instead of mining the pregnancy angle for emotional truth as well as laughs, the film settles on a tired comedic thriller plot. Once the stunt casting wears off, it is apparent that Schwarzeneggar, DeVito, and director Ivan Reitman are on autopilot throughout Junior. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Judy Collins - Naomi; James Eckhouse - Dr. Ned Sneller; Aida Turturro - Louise; Michele Abrams - Waiting Room Woman; Kathleen Chalfant - Casitas Madres Receptionist; Maggy Myers Davidson - Campus Gal; Peter Anthony Elliott - Reporter; Stefan Gierasch - Edward Sawyer; Maggie Han - Lab Assistant; Dee Hengstler - Banquet Dancer; Dean Jacobson - Turkel; Charles McGowan - Banquet Dancer; Matt Mulhern - Mover; Mary Gordon Murray - Betty; Judy Ovitz - Stewardess; Monika Schnarre - Angelic Nurse; Mindy Seeger - Alice; Lawrence Tierney - Mover; Jerald Vincent - Banquet Dancer; Kevin West - Lyndon Executive; Welker White - Jenny; Cassandra Wilson - Singer; Lawrence T. Wrentz - Campus Security Guard; Ira Newborn - Lyndon Executive; Tom Dugan - Lobster Man; Kevin Sifuentes - Banquet Valet; Merle Kennedy - Samantha; Ellen McLaughlin - Chairwoman (FDA); Christopher Meloni - Mr Lanzarotta; Holly Wortell - Lobster Woman; Megan Cavanaugh - Willow
Credit
Gary Wissner - Art Director, Sheldon Kahn - Associate Producer, Michael Chinich - Casting, Alan Berger - Casting, Dr.Richard Buyalos - Consultant/advisor, Neal Nordlinger - Co-producer, Gordon A. Webb - Co-producer, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Ivan Reitman - Director, Wendy Greene Bricmont - Editor, Sheldon Kahn - Editor, Beverly J. Camhe - Executive Producer, Daniel Goldberg - Executive Producer, Joe Medjuck - Executive Producer, James Ingram - Composer (Music Score), James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Carole Bayer Sager - Songwriter, Patty Smyth - Songwriter, Joe McKinney - Makeup, Matthew Mungle - Makeup, Ve Neill - Makeup, Valli O'Reilly - Makeup, Stephen Lineweaver - Production Designer, Adam Greenberg - Cinematographer, Ivan Reitman - Producer, Chris Conrad - Producer, Clay Griffith - Set Designer, David M. Blitstein - Special Effects, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Kevin Wade - Screenwriter, Chris Conrad - Screenwriter
