Kindergarten Cop (1990)

A tough cop must pose as a kindergarten teacher in order to locate a dangerous criminal's ex-wife, who may hold the key to putting him behind bars.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Murray Salem (story), Murray Salem (screenplay)

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Penelope Ann Miller, Pamela Reed

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Kimble
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Joyce
Pamela Reed	...	Phoebe
Linda Hunt	...	Miss Schlowski
Richard Tyson	...	Crisp
Carroll Baker	...	Eleanor Crisp
Joseph Cousins	...	Dominic
Christian Cousins	...	Dominic
Cathy Moriarty	...	Sylvester's Mother
Park Overall	...	Samantha's Mother
Jayne Brook	...	Zach's Mother
Richard Portnow	...	Captain Salazar
Tom Kurlander	...	Danny
Alix Koromzay	...	Cindy
Betty Lou Henson	...	Keisha's Mother

Storyline

After numerous fruitless attempts, the veteran LAPD Detective, John Kimble, has one last chance to put behind bars once and for all the elusive drug kingpin, Cullen Crisp, who is trying to find the whereabouts of his son and his ex-wife who run away with millions of dollars. In high hopes of picking up clues, the massive officer finds himself at a bustling elementary school in Astoria, Oregon, posing as a substitute kindergarten teacher; however, to keep up the ruse without blowing his cover, John must keep under control a noisy classroom full of intimidating five-year-old adversaries. Can Kimble show them who's boss?

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Plot Keywords:

holster | shoulder holster | shoulder | good versus evil | evil man | 

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Taglines:

An undercover cop in a class by himself.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cast includes one Oscar winner: Linda Hunt; and four Oscar nominees: Angela Bassett, Carroll Baker, Cathy Moriarty and Jason Reitman.

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Goofs

Early in the film, John Kimble parks near a cinema showing The Lost Boys (listed on the marquee as Los Muchachos Perdidos). One of the stars is listed as Jami Gerts instead of Jami Gertz.

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Quotes

Cullen Crisp: [holding Dominic at gunpoint] Kimble!
Detective John Kimble: He's not your hostage; he's your son.
Cullen Crisp: Drop it. On the floor.
Detective John Kimble: You want to do this to your own son?
Cullen Crisp: Drop it. I'm losing it. Hurry.
Detective John Kimble: [puts his gun down] Okay. Now let him go.
Cullen Crisp: The boy is mine. He's *my* boy. You get your own goddamn family!
[Kimble's ferret bites Cullen's neck, then Kimble shoots him dead]

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning of the film, the opening credits are used with written straight-line colors

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was cut by 19 secs by the BBFC for a 12 certificate with edits to footage of: a woman being slapped in the face, a head-butt, a man's head being hit against a car door, a baseball attack on a woman being reduced to one hit and the subsequent sight of the bat aimed at her midriff, and a reduction in gunshots (from 5 to 2). The cuts were fully restored in the 15 rated video release.

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Connections

Referenced in Person of Interest: Brotherhood (2014)

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Soundtracks

La Manito
Music by Kinito Méndez
Performed by Alfonso 'Pochy' Vasquez y su Cocoband (as Pochi y su Cocoband)

User Reviews

Decent comedy

Arnie plays a bad ass cop who disguises himself as a kindergarten teacher in order to track down the ex-wife of a drug sleazeball to finally lock him up.

Arnie in a comedy. Well, it worked in Twins so why not do it again? Actually this time around he fares very well, balancing quite nicely his tough guy side (which we all love) and also his comedic side. His interaction with the children are hilarious and somewhat touching at times. Supporting cast do a nice job, particularly Reed as Arnie's partner and Hunt as his kindergarten supervisor.

Many critics found the level of violence to be a little excessive considering it's listed as mainly a comedy, but I don't agree. Sure, there's some violence near the end, but it's relatively toned down. I'd say this is good family fun.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish German

Release Date:

21 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kindergarten Cop

Filming Locations:

Hamlet Quick Stop - 38012 US-26, Seaside, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,918,560, 23 December 1990

Gross USA:

$91,457,688

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$201,957,688

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1