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:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

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:

Imagine Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Kimble carries Phoebe into the motel, he says two short sentences in German (the first time Arnie can be heard speaking his native language in a movie). For interest, these mean: "That makes me stinking mad. Now I'm mad." The second time he spoke German wouldn't be until Escape Plan (2013).

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Goofs

Reflected in Mrs. Sullivan's car door.

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Quotes

Phoebe: Well, what are you going to do? Handcuff her to the bumper of your car and take her for a ride?
Detective John Kimble: Let's just say I'm not going to offer to cook her dinner.

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Crazy Credits

Film title logo appears at the end of the closing credits

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Alternate Versions

When shown on BBC1 All the gun violence was completely omitted from the disco scene and all of the profanity was either dubbed over or omitted from the film and the scene where John Kimble confronts the father who gave the boy bruises was heavily cut removing profanity and when the father goes to hit John Kimble but John Kimble blocks the punch and punches the boys father in the stomach making the scene appear very out of sorts.

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Connections

Referenced in Robot Chicken: Toy Meets Girl (2005)

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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.