Problem Child

Problem Child (1990)

  • 4% of critics liked it
    (24 reviews)

  • 43% of users liked it
    (55,386 ratings)

An adoptive parent discovers that some children are given up by their biological parents for very good reasons in this dark comedy. Ben Healy (John Ritter) is a pleasant but brow-beaten yuppie working for his father Big Ben (Jack Warden), a tyrannical sporting goods dealer. Ben would love to have a… More

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PG,
Directed By
,
Genres
Comedy, Kids & Family
In Theaters
Jul 27, 1990 Wide
On DVD
Oct 19, 1999
Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

    Some kids are born bad. Others achieve badness. And some have badness thrust upon them. The same can be said of movies.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune

    Inside Dennis Dugan's uncertainly staged, awkwardly sentimental Problem Child is another movie fighting to get out-one that's much meaner and probably more interesting.

  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

    The rest of the kid's tricks are too unimaginative to be much fun -- though with jokes this lame you won't have to worry as much about your children getting any bad ideas.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Universal took a step in the right direction by whittling Problem Child down to just 81 minutes but didn't go far enough. The studio should have excised another 75 minutes and released this unbelievable mess as a short.

  • , Time Out

    Enough to make you gag.

Read all 14 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jeff "


    Awful, uninspired comedy about a brat, this is one of the worst comedies I had the misfortune of seeing. Poorly written, acted and directed, this is a film that never was funny to begin with. I never understood why this film was a hit, as it is painful to watch. I found the film to be… More

  • Lucas M


    Fun. But, the real problem is the screenplay.

  • AJ V


    A fun filled family adventure flick. I really liked this movie when I was a kid, and it's still entertaining.

  • Tim S


    Again, once was enough.

  • Jani H


    "You mean we've been doing "it" every night, for nothing?" Recently, I've written less reviews. Half a year ago, more or less, I wrote almost every day. One reason why I've become less effective is because of crappy movies like 'Problem… More

Read all 17 featured audience ratings

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