Family Comedy Pack Quadruple Feature (Kindergarten Cop / Problem Child / Kicking and Screaming / Major Payne)
Description
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 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
Features:
Product Details:
- Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy, Action & Adventure
- Format: Multiple Formats, NTSC, Widescreen, Color
- Contributor: Pamela Reed, Michael Richards, Michael Ironside, Amy Yasbeck, Robert Duvall, Larry Karaszewski, Murray Salem, John Ritter, Josh Hutcherson, Dean Lorey, Scott Alexander, Timothy Harris, Richard Tyson, Carroll Baker, Eric L. Gold, Leo Benvenuti, Gary Rosen, Gilbert Gottfried, Kate Walsh, Ivan Reitman, Brian Grazer, Damon Wayans, Cathy Moriarty, Christian Cousins, Herschel Weingrod, Penelope Ann Miller, William Hickey, Joseph Cousins, Jack Warden, Michael Oliver, Jimmy Miller, Will Ferrell, Jesse Dylan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Karyn Parsons, Dennis Dugan, Judd Apatow, Steve Rudnick, Park Overall, Mike Ditka, Albert Hall, Linda Hunt, Nick Castle, Robert Simonds, Michael Rachmil See more
- Initial release date: 2008-08-05
- Language: English, Spanish, Vietnamese
- Aspect Ratio : 2.35:1, 1.85:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.32 Ounces
- Item model number : MHV61104957DVD
- Director : Nick Castle, Jesse Dylan, Dennis Dugan, Ivan Reitman
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, NTSC, Widescreen, Color
- Run time : 6 hours and 25 minutes
- Release date : August 5, 2008
- Actors : Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Ritter, Damon Wayans, Will Ferrell, Penelope Ann Miller