Kindergarten Cop (1990)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers (WGA):

Murray Salem (story)
Murray Salem (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 December 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

An undercover cop in a class by himself.

Plot:

A tough cop is given his most difficult assignment: masquerade as a a kindergarten teacher in order to find a drug dealer.

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | School | Undercover | Kindergarten | Oregon

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Detective John Kimble
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Joyce Palmieri / Rachel Crisp
Pamela Reed	...	Detective Phoebe O'Hara
Linda Hunt	...	Miss Schlowski
Richard Tyson	...	Cullen Crisp, Sr.
Carroll Baker	...	Eleanor Crisp
Cathy Moriarty	...	Sylvester's Mother
Joseph Cousins	...	Dominic Palmieri / Cullen Crisp, Jr.
Christian Cousins	...	Dominic Palmieri / Cullen Crisp, Jr.
Park Overall	...	Samantha's Mother
Jayne Brook	...	Zach's Mother
Richard Portnow	...	Captain Salazar
Tom Kurlander	...	Danny
Alix Koromzay	...	Cindy
Betty Lou Henson	...	Keisha's Mother

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:L (cut) | Spain:T | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (theatrical release) (cut) | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #30860) | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

Kimble swears in German as he carries his colleague into the house. ("Das macht mich stinksauer! Jetzt bin ich sauer!", which means "That makes me pissed as hell! Now I am pissed!").

Goofs:

Factual errors: John and Phoebe travel on an MD-80 aircraft. There are five seats per row in these planes, but the set was constructed with six.

Quotes:

Detective John Kimble: [banging on fire bell] Yes, this is fire drill! Come on!
Detective John Kimble: [looks down at stopwatch] Aww! This is terrible!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Your Studio and You (1995)

Soundtrack:

The Party Starts Now!

A Good Mix Of Humor & Action, But Unrealistic Look At Family

Here's an odd combination of humor, kids' cuteness, violence and suspense. The beginning, and the last third of the film provide the violence. In between is a nice story of a tough-guy cop becoming a loved and respected kindergarten teacher.

The cuteness comes with the kids, who are nice and funny and with Penelope Miller's character. Miller sports wholesome looks and, except for the end when things get tense, a clean mouth.

The star of the film, Arnold Schwarzenegger, shows a good flair for comedy as the tough guy-softie. This might be Arnold's most likable role. It was interesting to see Carroll Baker again, an actress I hadn't seen since the 1960s. I'd like to have seen her smile, but she frowned throughout her minor role in here.

Storywise, this is typical Hollywood in that it depicts family life in a poor way. I know there are many single mothers out there today but in this movie - which is 17 years old - ALL of the kids in the class come from single homes except one, and that kid is being beaten up by this father! Excuse me - not one normal family out of 25?? Come on! Somebody should inform Hollywood there ARE happily married people in the United States....or at least outside the sick confines of Tinseltown.

Anyway, the positives outweigh the negatives in the film and the unique mix of humor and suspense make this interesting for the full 111 minutes.