Kindergarten Cop
Arnold Schwarzenegger made a successful transition to comedy with this 1990 box-office hit directed by Ivan Reitman. Arnold plays an undercover cop whose attempt to locate a little boy and his mother leads him to a small-town kindergarten class, where he poses as a teacher while continuing his investigation. He's also trying to catch a vicious drug dealer (Richard Tyson), whose ex-wife and son are the pair that Arnold's trying to rescue from impending danger. The scenes featuring Arnold and a classroom full of kindergartners are a real hoot, and Pamela Reed offers enjoyable support as Schwarzenegger's police partner, while Penelope Ann Miller (as another teacher) provides a low-key romantic interest and Carroll Baker steals her scenes as the villain's domineering mother. These familiar elements combine to make this a surprisingly lively and entertaining comedy-thriller, but parents are advised to heed the PG-13 rating: there are a lot of funny kids in the movie, but it's still a police thriller, with a violent climax that's not suitable for young viewers. --Jeff Shannon
Problem Child
Comedy great John Ritter stars in Problem Child, a hilarious comedy with an offbeat sense of humor. Good-natured Ben Healy (Ritter) and his social-climbing wife Flo (Amy Yasbeck) adopt seven-year-old Junior (Michael Oliver) to help brighten their lives. However, Junior soon turns an ordinary camping trip, an innocent birthday party and even a little league baseball game into full-scale comic nightmares. Thinking all his new son needs is some loving attention, Ben puts up with Junior's mishaps – but only to a point. Just as he's ready to take drastic action, Ben realizes that beneath the little monster lurks an angel craving affection in this satire on the trials of modern-day family life.
Kicking and Screaming
Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented: Encouraged by his neighbor, ex-Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (yes, playing himself), Phil stops his vitamin regimen and becomes wildly addicted to regular doses of caffeine, which turns him into a monster of a team leader. In addition to Ferrell, Duvall does a doozy of a comic riff on his Great Santini role, and even Ditka is unexpectedly funny. It's a formula film with just enough far-out notions to keep you chuckling. --Steve Wiecking
Major Payne
Let's face facts here: You don't watch a movie like Major Payne for its artistic merit any more than you'd watch Schindler's List for its comedy. If you go in thinking otherwise, you're bucking for a disappointment. So it's a pleasant surprise to discover that Major Payne is more entertaining than a barrel full of bad reviews would lead you to believe. It's a totally formulaic comedy about a bunch of misfit kids who turn into a crack squad of skillfully disciplined ROTC cadets, but Damon Wayans is spot-on hilarious in the title role as the hardened military bulldog who whips the little slackers into shape. Wayans plays the role as if killing and warfare were the only joys in life, and when he finds himself cast adrift without a military commission, a scene that directly parodies Apocalypse Now lets you know that Wayans (who cowrote the script) is going to bring something new to this routine scenario. Major Payne's idea of a good bedtime story is to recall his worst battlefield horrors, and Wayans gives it just the right twist of comedy to put Payne's bullet-pierced heart in the right place--he's really just a good guy with an iron-clad exterior. The young recruits strut their stuff in the final round of their cadet competition (their marching rap is good for a solid laugh), and director Nick Castle keeps it all from becoming too stupid or over the top. It's arguably only for Wayans's most ardent fans, but as a send-up of all the great movie drill instructors, Major Payne is painlessly enjoyable. --Jeff Shannon
