Problem Child 2

Problem Child 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brian Levant
Written by	Scott Alexander Larry Karaszewski
Produced by	Robert Simonds
Starring	John Ritter Michael Oliver Laraine Newman Amy Yasbeck Jack Warden
Cinematography	Peter Smokler
Edited by	Lois Freeman-Fox Robert P. Seppey
Music by	David Kitay
Production company	Imagine Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 3, 1991 (1991-07-03)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11–15 million
Box office	$32.7 million

Problem Child 2 is the 1991 comedy film sequel to the 1990 film Problem Child; a continuation of the exploits of Junior, an adopted orphan boy who deliberately wreaks comedic havoc everywhere he goes. In it, Amy Yasbeck portrays Annie Young, unlike the first one in which she portrayed Flo Healy, wife of Ben (John Ritter). It was produced by producer Robert Simonds, who also produced the first one. It was rated PG-13, unlike its predecessor, which was rated PG.

This second installment in the Problem Child franchise did not fare as well as its predecessor, only performing about half as well at the U.S. box office and was also beat out by another sequel film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was released on the same day.

Plot

Ben Healy and his son, Junior, move from Cold River, Illinois to Mortville, Oregon, a quiet, peaceful community, apparently as a way to start their lives all over again. After a lengthy journey, they arrive in Mortville. Just before they arrive at their new house, Junior sees a girl roller skating on the sidewalk with a balloon. He pops it with his sling shot and laughs at her. When Junior starts his first day of school he meets the girl from the day before, who offers to show him to the principal's office, but places a mocking message sign on his back. To his amusement, Junior sees that Igor Peabody (who is also from Cold River) is the principal of his new school. Peabody panics at the sight of him and promptly promotes him to the sixth grade. Mr. Thorn, his new teacher, is teaching math to a bunch of students, including the school bully Murph (who has been held back for several years). Junior manages get on Murph's bad side. Murph retaliates by trying to drop the school's satellite dish on Junior at the end of school, but it misses him and hits Ben instead, knocking him out. When Ben comes to, he sees school nurse Annie Young (Amy Yasbeck) and becomes smitten with her.

Around the same time, bank owner Lawanda Dumore, the richest lady in Mortville, takes a liking to him. Ben leaves Junior with an irresponsible babysitter as he goes on a date but Junior ruins it by calling the date's former husband and telling him that she is at the restaurant with Ben. After a fight with Ben, the date realizes she still loves her husband and heads back home with him. Ben even drives them both home and gets a shock when he arrives home; Junior's babysitter was having sex with her boyfriend in Ben's room and Junior decided to use Ben's video camera and projector to show the neighborhood what the babysitter did instead of watching Junior like she was supposed to do. Ben is horrified and gives Junior a lecture. The doorbell sounds and when they open it, Ben's father, 'Big Ben', is at the door. Ben questions 'Big Ben', wondering why he's there and after hesitating, 'Big Ben' admits that he's bankrupt and has nowhere to go; so Ben agrees that he can stay until he manages to sort out his problems. Ben attempts a second date, deciding his dad isn't a pushover like most babysitters and leaves him to babysit Junior. Junior, however, soaks the doormat and rewires the doorbell, electrocuting the date; this causes her to cancel. Big Ben says that Junior is acting out because he's paranoid that Ben may find a new wife some day and doesn't want to share Ben, while Ben thinks that the memory of his ex-wife Flo, who hated Junior, could factor into it and decides to stop dating and spend more time with Junior (while also deciding to give dating another try later).

Lawanda vows to have Ben at any cost. While Ben and Junior are gone for the day, she comes in and decorates the house to impress Ben. Ben and Junior visit a waterpark, a ball game and a carnival. However, the carnival trip ends in disaster when Junior sabotages the ride's speed controls (causing a massive vomiting fest all over the entire amusement park), as he was mocked for being too short for the rides by his classmates. Ben has a heart-to-heart with Junior on the way back, saying that, even if he does date, he still loves Junior and won't let a woman come between them.

When they arrive home, they meet LaWanda, who impresses Ben, but Junior is able to see through her fake smile and knows she's bad news. Junior then ruins the dinner she made by putting live cockroaches in the food. Afterwards, she tells him that when she is his stepmother, she will send him to boarding school in Baghdad. He tries to tell Ben that she is bad, but he doesn't believe him. While at a school function, Ben sees the puppet show go awry and thinks Junior is to blame. He stops it, but is surprised to see it was Trixie ruining it. It is also revealed that Annie is her mother. Annie rushes to take her home; Ben tries to tell her he understands what it is like raising a problem child and thinks they can help one another. She tells him she likes him, but if they date, Trixie's behavior would only get worse. He proposes to Lawanda, believing she is the only woman who will marry him.

After Junior sabotages a blood test by switching Lawanda's blood sample with a blood sample from a rabid dog, Lawanda is rushed to a hospital and undertakes more blood tests by baffled doctors, who can't find any bite marks. By a chance meeting in a pizza restaurant, Ben, Annie, Junior and Trixie have dinner together and have a good time, even after the food fight the kids start with Peabody and his girlfriend gets them thrown out. Junior and Trixie apologize, become friends and decide their parents should date.

In the hospital, Junior overhears a patient in the room across from Lawanda’s, saying he wants to hold the world record for the world's longest nose. He sabotages the plastic surgery by switching the patient files, resulting in Lawanda receiving a gigantic nose in an attempt to make her so ugly that Ben will not marry her. After Junior asks Ben to go see Lawanda before the wedding, Ben declines, citing the tradition of not seeing the bride before the ceremony. In another attempt to stop the wedding, Junior rigs a rope across the aisle in order to trip Lawanda to so that her veil falls off and Ben can see the results of Junior switching the medical files at the hospital. Lawanda stands up to reveal that she had a last-minute expensive plastic surgery.

Later at the altar, Trixie crashes the wedding by driving a front-end loader carrying the Love Rock. Lawanda then reveals her true selfish nature to a shocked Ben by saying openly that she hates children, and Ben realizes Junior was telling the truth. Junior and Trixie's work pays off, and Ben finally realizes that Annie is the one for him. Big Ben decides to marry (the now single) Lawanda, while Junior and Trixie use explosives to splatter both of them with the wedding cake. Ben, Junior, Trixie and Annie walk away together happily while holding hands.

Cast

Actor	Role
John Ritter	Benjamin 'Ben' Healy, Jr.
Michael Oliver	Junior Healy
Jack Warden	Benjamin 'Big Ben' Healy, Sr.
Laraine Newman	LaWanda Dumore
Amy Yasbeck	Annie Young
Ivyann Schwan	Trixie Young
Gilbert Gottfried	Igor Peabody
Paul Willson	Smith, LaWanda's Assistant
Bob Smith	Father Flanagan
Alan Blumenfeld	Aron Burger
Krystle and Tiffany Mataras	Dolly and Madison
Charlene Tilton	Debbie Calukinski
Kristen Simonds	Rhoda
Eric Edwards	Murph
James Tolkan	Mr. Thorn
Martha Quinn	Emily
Zach Grenier	Voytek

Production

The film was filmed on location in Orlando, Florida from January to March 1991, including the-then newly opened Universal Studios Florida.

In 2014, during an interview on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski revealed that the studio was reluctant to rehire them, only doing so because they wanted to shoot a sequel before Michael Oliver could noticeably grow and, as the writers of the first film, could produce a script quicker than writers new to the story and characters of the franchise.

Frustrated with the criticisms of the first one, they deliberately increased the poor taste in the sequel, intending to make a Pasolini or John Waters film for children, and went so far overboard that the first cut received an R rating from the MPAA, a secret kept until their 2014 appearance on the podcast. Dubbing over Junior's use of the terms "fuckface" and "pussy whipped" got the film a PG-13 rating on appeal, but the studio was still so nervous that, at the last minute, they added the Woody Woodpecker cartoon Smoked Hams to the film's theatrical release, to reassure parents that the film was suitable for children.

Reception

The film did not fare as well as the first one, earning half as much at the U.S. box-office. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 7% of 27 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 2.4/10. The sites consensus read: "Crude, rude, puerile, and pointless, Problem Child 2 represents a cynical nadir in family-marketed entertainment."

External links

• Problem Child 2 at IMDb
• Problem Child 2 at AllMovie