---
title: "Problem Child"
year: 1990
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/problem-child-1990"
fi1m_id: "problem-child-1990"
imdb_id: "tt0100419"
tmdb_id: 11077
wikidata_id: "Q2075493"
fi1m_score: 32
critics_score: 26
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-10-04T21:31:23.660558+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-04T21:31:23.957761+00:00"
region: "FR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Problem Child (1990)

Directed by Dennis Dugan · 1h 21m · Comedy

## Identity

Problem Child

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/problem-child-1990
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** problem-child-1990
- **IMDb ID:** tt0100419
- **TMDB ID:** 11077
- **Wikidata ID:** Q2075493
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100419/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11077, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075493

**Fi1m score: 32** · Critics 26 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* An unloved boy misbehaves for 81 minutes while the adults compete to be worse company

> Dennis Dugan’s comedy makes an unloved child the excuse for crude jokes, then retreats into sentiment. Jack Warden brings some bite, but there is too little invention to make the unpleasantness funny.

## Synopsis

Junior (Michael J. Oliver) is an unloved orphan who rebels against the adults around him. Ben (John Ritter), Big Ben (Jack Warden) and Flo (Amy Yasbeck) are among the grown-ups caught up in his bad behaviour. The adults have concerns of their own, including social standing, while Junior gives them reasons to lose patience. His need for affection sits awkwardly alongside his conduct: the boy who needs someone to care for him also makes himself difficult to live with.

## Review

Dennis Dugan’s *Problem Child* wants a laugh from a badly behaved boy and some affection for him too. That is a workable basis for a comedy, but this is a poor one, too often content to treat being disgusting as enough to earn a laugh. Junior, played by Michael J. Oliver, is an unloved orphan whose rebellion causes trouble for the adults around him. The difficulty is deciding what, beyond causing trouble, the film thinks he is good for.

The screenplay by Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander has a potentially uncomfortable subject in a child whose behaviour makes sympathy difficult. We can understand why a comedy might resist making him adorable; there is no obligation to make a rebellious boy secretly angelic. But the jokes need to reveal something about his anger, or give us the pleasure of seeing someone deserving receive it. Too often, the mere fact that Junior is objectionable seems to be treated as the joke.

We grew irritated with the bodily-function jokes. They make an unloved child’s disruptive behaviour the main attraction, without finding much that is surprising or funny in it. The problem is not that the humour is unsuitable for polite company: comedy has no duty to behave itself, and offended adults can be excellent subjects for ridicule. Here, though, the crudeness supplies too much of the material, while the retreat into sentiment makes the nastiness feel timid.

Jack Warden gives the film some welcome bite as Big Ben, playing through the softness that blunts so much of the comedy. His contribution is a reason not to dismiss the entire cast with the material. John Ritter, as Ben, gives us someone less exhausting to spend time with, though goodwill cannot make an underwritten comic situation funnier. Amy Yasbeck has a rougher assignment as Flo: the status-conscious wife is made so insistently objectionable that the performance has little room to surprise us.

Peter Lyons Collister’s cinematography and George Costello’s production design keep the action legible, but neither supplies much comic interest beyond the behaviour being presented. There is little pleasure here in simply looking at a scene and discovering another joke within it. Miles Goodman’s music cannot compensate for that lack of invention. Dugan puts the disruptive child at the centre of our attention, yet the filmmaking does too little to make watching him more rewarding than hearing an account of his bad behaviour.

Mike Hill, Tom Finan and Daniel P. Hanley share the editing credit, and the film runs 81 minutes. It still feels laboured, because a short running time cannot cure a succession of jokes built on much the same response. Once the adults have been aggravated, we need a fresh comic idea, not simply another reason for them to lose patience. The cutting does not give this material the briskness its length might suggest.

The usual pleasure of a badly behaved child in a comedy is that the adults’ rules begin to look ridiculous. There is room for anger in that arrangement, and no requirement for everyone to become nice. This film never makes us interested enough in Junior to excuse its attempts to win our sympathy. Anyone hoping for sustained comic spite should give it a miss; Warden cannot carry the whole evening.

*Fi1m score 32, published 4 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics are firmly negative about Problem Child, finding little amusement in its disruptive child and the adults around him. The reviews repeatedly fault the comedy’s crudeness, with scant praise for either the jokes or the characters. The clearest performance exception comes from Empire, which singles out Jack Warden as the one actor able to cut through the sentimentality, while finding the film too timid to pursue its dark premise.

The reservations differ chiefly in emphasis. Radio Times objects to making an unloved orphan the butt of bad jokes; the Los Angeles Times concentrates on the noise and weak scatological humour. Variety finds the story implausible and overlong, reserving particular dislike for the status-conscious wife. The available Time Out excerpt stresses the need for sympathy with the boy but does not establish an overall verdict, so it offers limited evidence of dissent from an otherwise strongly negative consensus.

## Straight answers

**Is Problem Child worth watching?**

*Problem Child* is a poor comedy that we score 32/100, with too little invention to recommend even to those who enjoy badly behaved children upsetting adults. Jack Warden brings welcome bite, but the repeated bodily-function jokes grow irritating, and the attempts to make us care for Junior are unconvincing.

**How long is Problem Child, and what is it rated?**

*Problem Child* runs 1h 21m. It is a comedy film.

**Where can I watch Problem Child in France?**

*Problem Child* is not on any streaming or rental service in France at the moment. It is available in 8 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does Problem Child compare to The Kid?**

*Problem Child* is cruder and less funny than [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid), which we recommend for its more convincing affection between a child and an ill-equipped guardian. Both reach for sentiment, sometimes too readily, but Chaplin’s film earns its tenderness through sharply judged comedy; *Problem Child* relies on disruptive behaviour without making enough of it.

**What should I watch after Problem Child?**

After *Problem Child*, try [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) (1921, Fi1m 84): A child and an ill-equipped guardian earn their laughs and their tenderness. Then [*The Addams Family*](https://film.one/film/the-addams-family) (1991, Fi1m 77): Macabre family jokes work better when the household has some charm; and [*Hunt for the Wilderpeople*](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople) (2016, Fi1m 82): An unwanted boy finds a grumpy adult worth spending time with.

### Reviews we read (6)

- **Time Out**, SFe (64/100, inferred): The available metadata does not reveal the critic’s overall verdict. It says the story depends on the audience identifying with the boy, or at least feeling some sympathy for him. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/problem-child)
- **Empire**, Monty Smith (30/100, inferred): Smith finds the comedy too timid to follow through on its dark premise. He singles out Jack Warden as the one performer who cuts through the film’s sentimentality. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/problem-child-review/)
- **Radio Times**, Sue Heal (1/5): Heal condemns the comedy as crude, deeply unfunny and offensive. She particularly objects to making an unloved, rebellious orphan the butt of bad jokes. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ic0jdj/problem-child/)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (20/100, inferred): The review is negative, portraying the child as a disruptive presence. Its headline singles out his frightful, freckled appearance and effect on the adults around him. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/28/movies/junior-is-frightful-freckled-and-the-bane-of-his-seniors.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, MICHAEL WILMINGTON (10/100, inferred): Wilmington pans the film as a loud, lame shrieker with humor that fails to amuse. He singles out its reliance on crude scatological jokes as especially weak. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-30-ca-745-story.html)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (10/100, inferred): The critic dismisses the film as an unbelievable mess that should have been much shorter. They single out the shrill, status-conscious wife as its most offensive character. [Read](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/problem-child-1200428278/)

## Details

- **Director:** Dennis Dugan
- **Director:** Dennis Dugan
- **Screenplay:** Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander
- **Cinematography:** Peter Lyons Collister
- **Editor:** Tom Finan, Mike Hill, Daniel P. Hanley
- **Music:** Miles Goodman
- **Production design:** George Costello
- **Costume design:** Eileen Kennedy
- **Producer:** Robert Simonds
- **Cast:** John Ritter as Ben; Jack Warden as Big Ben; Michael J. Oliver as Junior; Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Peabody; Amy Yasbeck as Flo; Michael Richards as Martin Beck; Peter Jurasik as Roy; Charlotte Akin as Lorraine
- **Runtime:** 1h 21m
- **First release (Brazil):** 27 July 1990
- **Genres:** Comedy
- **Budget:** $10 million
- **Box office:** $72 million

## Where to watch in France

Not streaming, renting or buying in France at the last check.

Also available in: AT, CA, DE, EE, ES, IT, NL, UA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor - Razzie Award 1991: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor - Razzie Award (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Kid* (1921), Fi1m 84: A child and an ill-equipped guardian earn their laughs and their tenderness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-kid.md)
- *Good Morning* (1959): Children misbehave, adults fret, and bodily functions actually produce some laughs.
- *The Addams Family* (1991), Fi1m 77: Macabre family jokes work better when the household has some charm. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-addams-family.md)
- *Little Nicholas* (2009): Childhood misunderstandings cause havoc, with rather more affection for everyone involved.
- *Hunt for the Wilderpeople* (2016), Fi1m 82: An unwanted boy finds a grumpy adult worth spending time with. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/problem-child-1990