Problem Child 2 (1991)

The worst child in the world makes an unthinkable discovery - there is another child even worse than him, and it's a girl.

Director:

Brian Levant

Writers:

Scott Alexander (characters), Larry Karaszewski (characters)

Stars:

John Ritter, Michael Oliver, Jack Warden

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Ritter	...	Ben Healy
Michael Oliver	...	Junior Healy
Jack Warden	...	'Big' Ben Healy
Laraine Newman	...	Lawanda Dumore
Amy Yasbeck	...	Annie Young
Ivyann Schwan	...	Trixie Young
Gilbert Gottfried	...	Mr. Peabody
Paul Willson	...	Smith
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Aron Burger
Charlene Tilton	...	Debbie Claukinski
James Tolkan	...	Mr. Thorn
Martha Quinn	...	Emily
Zach Grenier	...	Voytek
Eric Edwards	...	Murph
Krystle Mataras	...	Dolly (as Krystal Mataras)

Storyline

Junior's back in his first adventure since his last! Junior and Ben move to Mortville which seems like the perfect town to live in. The Healys have a nice new house--and Junior get's a cool new room! And young women have formed a line at Ben's door in order to get a piece of him (romantically). Ben does feel he should get remarried so Junior can have a mom, so while Junior adjusts to his new school which includes a little girl who's as bratty as Junior and a teenage brain-dead ignoramous bully in Junior's sixth grade class, Ben finds some dates, which Junior sends running for the hills, in the meantime Junior pulls his infamous tricks on people: blowing up barbecues, taping the bully to the chalkboard, videotaping his babysitter and her boyfriend having sex and broadcasting it for the whole neighborhood to see, same old same old. Meanwhile, Ben meets the gorgeous school nurse (after the school's satellite dish get's pushed on his head) and they, well he, believes it's love at first ...

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Plot Keywords:

three word title | restaurant | scene during opening credits | puppet show | child swearing | 

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Taglines:

This summer, Junior has a brand new friend.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final theatrical movie of Bob Smith.

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Goofs

The phone directory Jr uses early in the movie refers to Orlando listings, where the movie was filmed. Later, when the Mercedes pulls into the driveway, it has an out of state personalized tag.

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Quotes

Junior: Now, where is that surprise?
Ben Healy: Surprise!
Rhoda: Hi, Junior! I'm Rhoda, your babysitter. We're gonna be good friends.
Junior: Dad, let's slow this down a minute. Now, what is going on here?
Ben Healy: This is Rhoda, your babysitter. You're gonna be good friends.
Junior: Yeah, I heard that part. But why?
Debbie Claukinski: Yoo-hoo!
Ben Healy: Because I'm going out on a date.
Debbie Claukinski: Hi, Ben.
Ben Healy: Hi.
[...]

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Alternate Versions

When shown on network television additional deleted scenes were added in to pad out time and edit out questionable content. The following is a list of the scenes. 1. When Junior enters the school, he asks Trixie for directions to the principal's office, she secretly puts a "kick me" sign on Junior's back. 2. Ben and Junior are seen in their living room recovering from their concussions. When Ben goes into the kitchen to try to find more ice, he asks Junior what happened to his head and Junior says a girl did it and that women are crazy. Ben tells him not all women are crazy and notices Charlene Tilton's character doing yoga exercises next to a street pole. Ben goes outside to assist,causing Junior to make a vow to save him from the single women in the neighborhood. 3. A dialog scene before Big Ben notices that Dolly and Madison are selling his own clothes has him walking out of the house talking to a client on his cell phone which shortly after, the client angrily hangs up on him. 4. Another dialog scene occurs after LaWanda leaves their house when Big Ben explains that LaWanda is nuts over Ben. Junior tries to explain to his dad that he doesn't trust her but Ben verbally warns him not to talk about it as they made an agreement that Ben would spend more time with Junior as long as he behaves. 5. Additional scenes occur during the school's open house which has Murph pigging out at the refreshment table as well as Ben trying to explain to Annie that he could help her out with any problems that she has but Annie objects and tells Ben he wouldn't be able to. 6. Junior is in Annie's office with a nasty scratch on his arm. After she treats it she gets a call that Trixie stole their neighbor's station wagon and drove it through their house. Annie agrees to talk to her about it over dinner at Pizzarific. When Junior comes home he finds a stunned Ben telling him that LaWanda is in the hospital for rabies, a continuation of a sequence earlier where he switches her blood test with a rabid dog. 7. When Ben finds Junior missing, he gets a call from Annie saying Trixie is missing too. As Ben goes downstairs he trips over a bound-and-gagged Big Ben who is tied-up on the floor.

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Connections

Spoofed in Rugrats in Paris (2000)

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Soundtracks

Walk Away
Written by Leslie Howe, Alanis Morissette, Frank Levin, Louise Reny
Performed by Alanis Morissette (as Alanis)
Courtesy of Host Mustard Records

User Reviews

while not an especially good movie, there are hundreds of worse movies

Although I would never give this movie a great review, I can't understand why the movie has been rated so poorly on IMDb. If I took a little time, I'm sure I could list hundreds of movies that are FAR worse. Instead, this movie should be seen as a silly little time-passer...with one incredibly gross and unnecessary scene. Some, particularly kids and people who have a high tolerance for John Ritter, may actually like the movie. This CAN'T be said of horrible films like THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN, ALPHAVILLE or CRACKING UP--3 infinitely worse movies that just popped into my head. PROBLEM CHILD 2 did NOT cause me to feel bored or nauseous--while this is NOT a glowing review, it certainly seems to me a good reason not to list this among the worst films ever made.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Problem Child 2

Filming Locations:

Atlanta Avenue, Orlando, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,372,880, 7 July 1991

Gross USA:

$25,104,700

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,704,700

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1