THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020056
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALAN CHANG, TEENOLOGY MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
SUFFERING FROM morning sickness and mood swings, Arnold Schwarzenegger has a bulging belly instead of bulging biceps when he becomes the first man to give birth in Ivan Reitman's new comedy, ``Junior.''
Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, who haven't teamed up since ``Twins'' (also directed by Reitman), come together this time to explore the experience of pregnancy.
Schwarzenegger plays the indifferent scientist, Dr. Alexander Hesse; DeVito plays Dr. Larry Arbogast, the gynecologist. The two have developed a miracle birth drug that is bound to make big bucks. But research stops when the FDA steps in to prevent the doctors from testing the drug on human subjects.
Desperate to continue the research, the gynecologist persuades the scientist to be the guinea pig. Dr. Arbogast steals a fertile egg for his experiment from biologist Dr. Diana Reddin, played by Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, and unintentionally pulls her into a complicated mess that defies the natural order of child bearing.
Schwarzenegger's role as a huge man exploring his feminine side is hilarious. Schwarzenegger is surprisingly natural at playing a mother.
Thompson's appearance in a comedy might seem weird at first, but her performance as the nerdy scientist, who is so clumsy that you want to shake her to wake her up, is unexpectedly funny, if a bit exaggerated.
DeVito's Dr. Arbogast is the most captivating character in the movie as he struggles to take care of Dr. Hesse and cope with his side effects of pregnancy.
``Junior'' has a plot so simple and to-the-point that most parts of the film are predictable, even the jokes. However, the movie takes an unusual twist in the end and gets a few unexpected and hearty laughs when fun is poked at the concept of the father who is also the mother.
Although the film seems to try to explore the human heart and emotions, this message doesn't really come across. More emphasis is focused on Hesse's ``feminine'' jokes, which become dull after a while.
Not much of a moral film, ``Junior'' is a relaxing comedy that is more of a side show of Arnold's unusual changes. MEMO: ``Junior'' is rated PG-13. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Alan Chang is a junior at Kempsville High School.
BRUCE McBROOM
Universal Pictures
Scientist Alex Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) learns to deal with
children - starting with a personal experience of pregnancy - in
``Junior.''
by CNB