Problem Child 2
Encyclopedia
Problem Child 2 is the 1991 comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 sequel to the 1990 sleeper hit
Sleeper hit
A sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition...

 Problem Child
Problem Child (1990 film)
Problem Child is a 1990 American comedy film. It stars John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Gilbert Gottfried, Jack Warden, Michael Richards and Michael Oliver. The film was directed by Dennis Dugan.-Plot:...

; a continuation of the exploits of an adopted orphan boy who deliberately wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. This film was rated PG-13, unlike the first one which was rated PG.

This second installment in the franchise did not fare as well as its predecessor only performing about half as well at the U.S. box-office. However, it has achieved a slightly higher score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the positive reviews praising it as better than the original.

Plot

Ben Healy (John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...

) and his son Junior Healy (Michael Oliver
Michael Oliver (actor)
Michael Oliver is a former American child actor of the 1990s. Oliver is best known for his role as "Junior" in two Problem Child movies.-Early life and career:...

) move from Cold River to Mortville, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, a quiet, peaceful community, apparently as a way to start their lives all over again. Ben is initially sad to be leaving Cold River until Junior reminds him that everyone there has been horrible to him his whole life including his father and friends; they then leave while knocking over the welcome sign. When they arrive at their new house, dozens of women line up in their front yard. Apparently Mortville is also known as "the divorcee capital of the world". Aron Burger (Alan Blumenfeld
Alan Blumenfeld
Alan Blumenfeld is a veteran American character actor best known for his role in NBC's TV series Heroes as Maury Parkman, the telepath father of Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg...

) finally glad to have a man friend in the neighborhood, modestly invites them to his house for a barbecue. While there, Junior is introduced to Burger's twin daughters Dolly and Madison (Krystle and Tiffany Mataras). They demand him to each give them $10.00. He refuses and wants to go home. Burger then taunts him about how their hospitality is not good enough for him. In retaliation, he sets the gas pumps on Burger's grill up to high and when he goes over to light it, it ferociously explodes, causing him to land in a kiddie pool in the next yard, charring his eyebrows in the process.

The next day, Junior is reluctant to start his first day of school at Mortville Elementary. He is met by Trixie (Ivyann Schwan
Ivyann Schwan
Ivyann Schwan is an American actress who starred in the movies Parenthood and Problem Child 2. She was in Bill Nye the Science Guy, a scientific comedy, as a person in the experiments. Ivyann was featured on The Jenny Jones Show, TV's Entertainment Tonight on four different occasions and was twice...

), who has known about him since the beginning of the movie (he shot her balloon with a slingshot on the way to their new house). Igor Peabody, (Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...

) Junior's antagonist in the first film, is the school's principal and had also moved from Cold River to Mortville to start his life over too. But it is cut short when Junior enters his office, whereupon Peabody screams at the top of his lungs. Mortified by his return, Peabody decides to skip him from the 3rd to 6th grade so he will be gone in one year upon completing elementary school. When he enters his new classroom, he is met by the flustered teacher Mr. Thorn (James Tolkan
James Tolkan
James S. Tolkan is an American actor, often cast as a strict, overbearing, bald-headed authority figure.-Personal life:He was born in Calumet, Michigan, the son of Ralph M. Tolkan, a cattle dealer, and attended the University of Iowa, Coe College, the Actors Studio and Eastern Arizona College...

) who is upset since he wonders how many kids he has to teach, since many of them were obviously held back constantly. Murph (Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards is an American former adult film star.Among his pseudonyms are Eric Cowards, Erik Edwards, Rob Emmett, Rob Everett, Rob Evert or Eric Roberts.- Awards :*1983 CAFA Best Actor for Sexcapades...

), the most held back student (as he has actually been in the 6th grade since 1970) and also the class bully, plans to pulverize Junior after he stole the answer to his math question. Junior outsmarts him by taping him onto the chalkboard, causing all the kids to run out of the school in fear.

Meanwhile, Ben is opening an account at the local bank and wishes to be self employed. LaWanda Dumore (Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

), the wealthiest woman in Mortville who along with her dimwitted assistant Smith (Paul Willson
Paul Willson
Paul Lee Willson is an American actor, most notable for his television work.Willson has played numerous guest characters on a variety of shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Public, Caroline in the City, and Star Trek: Voyager...

) notices Ben inside her bank from her upstairs office. She demands Smith to find out everything about him since he is bound to be her seventh husband. Later that afternoon, he picks up Junior from school, not knowing he was the only one there today, but he gets smashed over the head and knocked unconscious by a decorative satellite dish on the school's rooftop by Murph, still covered in pieces of tape residue. After regaining consciousness in the clinic, he notices the pretty school nurse Annie Young (Amy Yasbeck
Amy Yasbeck
Amy Marie Yasbeck is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chapel Davenport on the sitcom Wings from 1994-1997.-Early life:...

). Junior, disgusted, leaves the clinic and plans to draw all over the picture of Annie on the wall with a black marker. Trixie, however, shows up and verbally warns him not to do it, but he does it anyway and she flips him to the floor and draws a mustache on his upper lip.

Meanwhile, LaWanda looks over Ben's records in her office, but has serious doubts when she sees Junior's, and notices news headlines indicating all the trouble he caused. She decides to handle him in her own way so she can move over to Ben. Later that night, Junior is upset when he is forced to be looked after by Rhoda (Kristen Simonds), his lazy, irresponsible witch of a babysitter, while Ben goes on a date with Debbie Claukinski (Charlene Tilton
Charlene Tilton
Charlene L. Tilton is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Lucy Ewing in the television series Dallas.-Career:...

), who he and Junior met the day they moved in. After being mistreated by Rhoda, Junior decides to call up Debbie's ex-husband Voytek (Zach Grenier
Zach Grenier
Zach Grenier is an American actor who has worked in film, television and on stage.He appeared in the first season of the television show 24 as Carl Webb, was in Deadwood, and on several episodes of Law & Order...

) an uncouth slob who eats dog food, lives in a messy apartment, and is insanely jealous. Wearing just a robe covering his underclothes, Voytek confronts Ben and Debbie at The St. Pierre Club where they are eating. He then smashes a lead pipe on Ben's head, and after a struggle, he thrusts the pipe into Voytek's abdomen. Shocked and apparently having had a change of heart with Voytek, Debbie punches Ben in the face and he falls to the floor. At the same time, Rhoda's boyfriend shows up at the house, and the two go into Ben's bedroom to have sex. Junior notices a box of video equipment and smiles gleefully. As a weary and betrayed Ben drives home, along with Debbie and Voytek in the passenger seat ferociously making out, he notices a line of cars and people sitting outside his house, cheering wildly. He looks and sees Rhoda and her boyfriend having sex via a projection screen embellishing the entire house's exterior.

Ben's father Big Ben Healy (Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...

) unexpectedly shows up, along with his pet dog, Nippy. He says he is on vacation and wants to spend it with Ben, but he finds out that his father's so-called vacation is permanent since he has no money and his creditors are after him. He decides to take him in, since he owes him for a good home life and bribing the dean at his college to keep him in school. He ends up staying in Junior's room, much to his disgust. The next day at school, Junior tails Trixie all over the school, wondering what she is up to. Armed with a slingshot, he turns around and she sprays him with the fire hose. The impact causes him to fly out the front doors. Shortly after, Ben shows up at the clinic where Junior is, draped with a towel. He nervously asks Annie if she would like to have dinner with him, but she refuses, saying that she cannot go out with anyone. Before he can figure out why, Junior drags him out of the clinic. Later that day, Junior notices Dolly and Madison selling lemonade for $2.00, but he only has a quarter. The girls decide to let him refill the pitcher, as a way for him to receive a free glass. He then goes over to a secluded place near his house and urinates into it. When he brings it back, they find out that he only filled it halfway and do not give him his free glass, not knowing he urinated in it. When Aron comes over to the stand after out working on their car (and still has no eyebrows after the grill incident), the girls fill him a glass and he drinks it. He declares it as tangy, but does not seem to mind.

That night, Junior tries to impress Ben by making dinner, but he tells him he has a date with Emily (Martha Quinn
Martha Quinn
Martha Quinn is best known as one of the original video jockeys on MTV .-Early life:...

) another person they met the day they moved in. Tired of seeing him always having a date, he gets even by electrocuting her on their doorstep. Ben notices this, but an electrified and fried Emily stutteringly tells him that she has the flu, and collapses on the ground when he closes the front door. Later, he thinks that he has been too strong with Junior, and decides to spend more time with him, hopefully thinking he will be more well-behaved. The next day at school, Junior chases Trixie into the girl's bathroom. When he confronts her in a stall, she gets out an M-80, lights it up, and gives it to Junior who throws it into the toilet and flushes it. As they run out of the restroom, screaming, Mr. Thorn, in a hurry to go to the bathroom, bolts into the teacher's bathroom and sits down on a toilet. When the M-80 travels into the one on which he's sitting via the sewage line, it explodes. Luckily, he lands back onto the toilet and breathes a sigh of relief, thinking he is fine.

Later, Big Ben notices Dolly and Madison selling clothes. He finally notices a suit with a "Vote For Big Ben" election button inside it. Then he notices Nippy inside a cage on the table, and the girls then tell him that Junior sold all of his clothes for $10.00. Furious, Big Ben storms into Junior's room and decides to belt him. Junior, however, taunts him with toy nun-chucks. Big Ben charges towards him, but he jumps out of the way and Big Ben falls out the window. Laughing, Junior closes the window, just when Ben comes in and decides to take him out for a day of fun. He asks Junior if he has seen grandpa (Big Ben) to which Junior replies, "Last time I seen him he was going out". As the car backs out of the driveway, it is seen that Big Ben landed in a tree, he yells to Ben to no avail. As they drive off, LaWanda and her moving crew show up and notice him up in the tree. Smith thinks he is Ben's father, LaWanda tells him to get him down, but he eventually falls to the ground.

At a carnival, Junior is disappointed that he is not tall enough to ride on the Crazy Dance, sort of a Tilt-A-Whirl kind of ride. After being taunted by Murph and Trixie, who managed to put stilts on her shoes to make her look taller, when going on the ride, Junior plans to make them pay. He goes underneath the ride and sets its speed to dangerously fast, causing everyone on board to vomit, and shortly after, the people who are watching outside. When driving home, Ben decides to make a deal with Junior that he will always be there for him, as long as he is being good. They then shake hands on it to seal the deal. When they arrive home, they find that the house has been wonderfully decorated. They find out that LaWanda was responsible for it. As she begins to leave, she promises Ben she will make dinner tomorrow night. The next day, Junior hypnotizes Nippy so he can scare LaWanda away, but cannot get him out of the trance. When Junior enters his room, he finds that it has been decorated with clowns, the one thing that he despises. Finally having had it, he goes over to his Roach Motel keeper and notices his pet roaches, triggering another plan. At dinner, everyone notices something weird with their salads. Then the bowl of salad tips over and lands all over the table, causing all the cockroaches to land on LaWanda, Ben, and Big Ben. Fed up, an unwitting Ben indignantly reprimands Junior and coldly tells him that he will never trust him ever again and storms out of the room. Next, LaWanda comes in and verbally warns him not to mess with her anymore and tells him she will marry Ben, and then send him to boarding school in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

. He tries to explain it to Ben the next night at his school's open house, but he dismisses it by telling him he cannot be trusted anymore. At the puppet show, Trixie secretly kidnaps the real puppeteers, ties them up, and performs the show in a very vulgar fashion. Thinking Junior was responsible, Ben runs up to the stage, yanks the puppets off Trixie's hands, and slams them onto the floor. Annie runs up to the stage and tells her why she did this; it turns out that Trixie is her daughter and she has the same problem with her which is similar to the problem Ben has with Junior. Disappointed and humiliated, she scoops her up and runs out of the building. Ben limps after her and telling her they can work it out, but she tells him that Trixie consumes her entire life and that she has no room for anything else, then runs off in the dark.

That night, Big Ben notices a still hypnotized Nippy in a shrub in the backyard. Finally relieved after finding him, he goes over, tips him over, and he falls to the ground. He picks him up and confusedly wonders what happened. Ben later takes Junior to a restaurant where they end up having dinner with Annie and Trixie. Mr. Peabody, out on a date with his girlfriend, spots Junior and Trixie and starts mouthing off. The kids, who share a hatred for him, throw meatballs at him. He, furious, yells at Ben for defending the kids' actions and throws an egg at him. He responds by starting a food fight. Junior and Trixie, who realize their parents like each other, become friends.

Junior, who strongly despises LaWanda, gets even by switching her blood sample with that of a rabid dog. While celebrating her engagement to Ben, she gets cake icing on her face, which bears a striking resemblance to foaming at the mouth (a symptom of rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...

). As a result, she is handcuffed by animal control officers and sent to the hospital for observation. With her in the hospital, Junior overhears a patient in the room across from her saying he wants to hold the world record for the world's longest nose. Overhearing this, Junior sabotages LaWanda's plastic surgery by switching the patient files, resulting in her receiving a gigantic nose - this is Junior attempting to make her so ugly Ben will not marry her. Unfortunately, she uses her funds to get last minute surgery to undo the damage. At the altar, 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 the two of them with wedding cake.

Ex-Triumph (band)
Triumph (band)
Triumph is a Canadian hard rock power trio that was popular in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Eight of the band's albums were certified gold or higher, and Triumph was nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including Group of the Year Award in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1987.Like their fellow Canadians...

 guitarist Rik Emmett
Rik Emmett
Richard Gordon Emmett is a vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of the Canadian rock band Triumph. Emmett left Triumph in 1988 to pursue a solo career. His first solo album, Absolutely, was released in 1990 and became a moderate hit across North America thanks to the hits "When a Heart...

's hit Saved By Love
Saved by Love
"Saved by Love" is a 1988 single by Christian music singer Amy Grant. It was released as the first single from the Lead Me On album.-The song:...

 plays over the credits.

Cast

Actor Role
John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...

 
Ben Healy
Michael Oliver
Michael Oliver (actor)
Michael Oliver is a former American child actor of the 1990s. Oliver is best known for his role as "Junior" in two Problem Child movies.-Early life and career:...

 
Junior Healy
Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...

 
Big Ben Healy
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

 
LaWanda Dumore
Amy Yasbeck
Amy Yasbeck
Amy Marie Yasbeck is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chapel Davenport on the sitcom Wings from 1994-1997.-Early life:...

Annie Young
Ivyann Schwan
Ivyann Schwan
Ivyann Schwan is an American actress who starred in the movies Parenthood and Problem Child 2. She was in Bill Nye the Science Guy, a scientific comedy, as a person in the experiments. Ivyann was featured on The Jenny Jones Show, TV's Entertainment Tonight on four different occasions and was twice...

 
Trixie Young
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...

 
Igor Peabody
Paul Willson
Paul Willson
Paul Lee Willson is an American actor, most notable for his television work.Willson has played numerous guest characters on a variety of shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Public, Caroline in the City, and Star Trek: Voyager...

 
Smith
Bob Smith
Buffalo Bob Smith
Buffalo Bob Smith was the host of the children's show Howdy Doody.-Biography:...

 
Father Flanagan
Alan Blumenfeld
Alan Blumenfeld
Alan Blumenfeld is a veteran American character actor best known for his role in NBC's TV series Heroes as Maury Parkman, the telepath father of Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg...

 
Aron Burger
Krystle and Tiffany Mataras  Dolly and Madison

Special DVD release

Problem Child and Problem Child 2 were released together on DVD in the U.S. on March 2, 2004, nearly six months after the death of John Ritter, as a package entitled Problem Child Tantrum Pack.

The DVD was released as a single sided disc with both movies on a main menu. On the DVD, the submenus for each of the films has that film's original theatrical trailer. There are no bonus features, not even the deleted scenes that are shown in TV airings. Furthermore, both movies are featured in a cropped fullscreen format.

The package does not contain the third film, the made-for-TV Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995). The R2 DVD Tantrum Pack contains all three films, which were released in the UK shortly after the passing of John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...

.

Deleted scenes

These scenes were absent from the theatrical and home video versions of the film, but were present in TV airings on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

. These scenes were also present on TBS Superstation.
  • Junior's first face-to-face encounter with Trixie (in the school hallways), in which she puts a sign on his back.
  • Nurse Young treating a scrape on Junior's arm.
  • Additional Ben/Nurse Young dialogue when their kids go missing.
  • Additional footage of LaWanda insulting Junior.
  • An alternate scene of Junior in Mr. Peabody's office shows his burping instead of passing gas.
  • An alternate scene of the engine overheating in the Jeep Wagoneer with Ben vigorously fanning the smoke instead of Ben and Junior both urinating in front of a cow pasture.
  • Additional footage of the pre-puppet show open house scene, where Ben approaches Annie as she's putting whipped cream on top of a dessert and Murph laps up the ranch dressing on the vegetable plate.
  • A scene that takes place after Ben and Junior's painful mishaps with Murph and Trixie on the first day of school, where they are both holding a cold compress on each other's head wounds, discussing women.
  • A Scene before Big Ben goes to the Clearance Sale, in which Big Ben is getting the paper, and trying to make a business deal on the phone.
  • An extended part of the scene where Junior chases Trixie into the girls restroom, she says, "Hey Fool, Still Waiting Out There?" To which he replies "Not Anymore." As he barges in.
  • The line "Maybe i'm getting warm, but I just got the craziest idea." was alternately place in the deleted nurses office scene.
  • Instead of Trixie giving Junior the finger and saying "Ha, I knew you'd look." She says "I knew you'd look." and sticks out her tongue.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK