In a sentenceThe children give Arnold Schwarzenegger better material than the adults do
Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) faces his first day in kindergarten, with a class of children who give him plenty to contend with. Phoebe (Pamela Reed) is his sidekick; Joyce (Penelope Ann Miller) and Miss Schlowski (Linda Hunt) are among the adults around him. Getting through to the children becomes a task in itself, alongside the demands of police work and a developing romance. The classroom brings comic confrontations, while the crime story includes Crisp (Richard Tyson) and Eleanor Crisp (Carroll Baker), with violence sharing space with the comedy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s exchanges with the children make Kindergarten Cop an amiable, uneven comedy. Pamela Reed is good company, but a slack middle and an unconvincing romance keep it from being more than a modest diversion.
Kindergarten Cop is a decent comedy whenever it lets Arnold Schwarzenegger contend with the children, and a less convincing film when it asks him to carry the romance. Ivan Reitman gets a fair amount of enjoyment from that first proposition. The difficulty is keeping it going while a police thriller demands attention of its own. There is enough here for an undemanding evening, though the middle could have used firmer treatment.
We laughed at Arnold Schwarzenegger sparring with the children, because his authority seems so much less useful to him in their company. He is funny when the effort to remain in charge becomes visible. The joke is simple and does not offer unlimited variations, but the children give him something immediate to respond to. Comedies about adults out of their depth depend on watching them adjust, and Ivan Reitman gives his star time to make that adjustment.
Pamela Reed gives Phoebe the briskness the film needs whenever its leading man threatens to become the entire show. Her sidekick performance has enough personality to hold our attention without turning each exchange into a competition. Richard Tyson as Crisp and Carroll Baker as Eleanor Crisp give the criminal side more presence than this sort of comedy always bothers to provide. That helps the thriller passages, even if having forceful villains also makes the changes in tone more pronounced.
Michael Chapman’s cinematography is at its most useful when it keeps the physical mismatch clear. Bruno Rubeo’s production design has the same job, and neither contribution needs to advertise itself for the classroom joke to work. Randy Edelman’s music has to accommodate comedy, threat and tenderness, though the romantic material remains unconvincing. The plain comic business is the more dependable pleasure.
The screenplay by Timothy Harris, Murray Salem and Herschel Weingrod has trouble making the romance worth the time it takes. It asks for affection without making the relationship particularly persuasive. This is not disastrous, and it does not take over the film, but the classroom exchanges are more engaging and we spend too long waiting to return to them. We need not be laughing constantly; we do need a stronger reason for spending time away from the children.
Wendy Greene Bricmont and Sheldon Kahn’s editing cannot quite disguise how thin the central situation becomes across 111 minutes. The middle loses momentum, and the switches between comedy, violence and romance start to feel like an attempt to keep several audiences occupied. There are enjoyable scenes on either side of that lull. Cutting the quieter stretches more tightly might have helped, though the writing would still leave the romance short of conviction.
The mixture also matters when choosing who to watch it with. The violence is part of the offer, not an incidental rough edge that the presence of children makes harmless. Keep the 15 certificate in mind before allowing the word kindergarten to settle the question.
The available reviews lean towards qualified approval of Kindergarten Cop’s comedy, rather than enthusiasm for the film as a whole. Praise centres on the exchanges between Schwarzenegger and the children, which Radio Times finds effective, and Pamela Reed’s supporting performance, appreciated even by the less persuaded critics. Time Out also sees some success in balancing comedy and thrills, while acknowledging that the film does not fully escape the limitations of that combination.
Reservations concern how well the entertainment holds together: Empire finds the central joke thin and the middle badly sagging, while Radio Times is unconvinced by the romance. Variety is the clear negative dissent, finding an awkward mixture of violence, psychological drama and lukewarm comedy, with Schwarzenegger struggling to find focus. The spread otherwise looks fairly narrow, though two of the six listed reviews have unavailable texts, so their specific judgements cannot be verified.
The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No praise or complaint from the review was visible.
Read the full review →The URL indicates a review of the film, but the article text is unavailable. Its verdict and specific praise or criticism cannot be verified.
Read the full review →Newman finds the film generally entertaining despite a badly sagging middle and a thin central joke. He praises its stronger-than-usual villains and Pamela Reed’s well-judged sidekick performance.
Read the full review →Parkinson finds the comedy effective overall, with Schwarzenegger especially good at sparring with the children. He finds the romance less convincing, though it does not intrude too much.
Read the full review →The review suggests the film does a better-than-usual job balancing comedy and thrills, though it does not fully overcome the genre’s limits. It singles out the film’s partial success at covering both bases.
Read the full review →The review finds the film a mish-mash of violence, psycho-drama, and lukewarm comedy. It singles out Schwarzenegger’s inability to find focus, while noting Pamela Reed’s spirited performance.
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Uncle Buck · not reviewed yetA difficult adult learns that looking after children requires more than confidence.
School of RockAnother unsuitable teacher discovers that listening to the class can be useful.
Police Story · not reviewed yetFor the physical comedy and police action, with considerably more daring stuntwork.
The Teacher's Diary · not reviewed yetA gentler classroom romance where inexperienced teachers have plenty left to learn.
The KidA resourceful child makes adult authority look foolish, with warmth behind the slapstick.
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