directed by Dennis Dugan
Ben (John Ritter) and Flo Healy (Amy Yasbeck) adopt Junior (Michael Oliver) without knowing about his past. He is 7 years old and in an orphanage at the time. The nuns running the orphanage are more than happy to get rid of him. Igor Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried), the social worker who facilitates the adoption, doesn't tell them everything there is know about Junior.
Junior has a pen pal, Martin Beck (Michael Richards) aka the Bow Tie Killer, who is in prison. Beck breaks out of prison and goes looking for Junior, whom he thinks is a convict named J.R.
Ben does his best to raise Junior. He takes him camping, takes him to a birthday party for another kid in the neighborhood, and puts him on the little league baseball team that he manages. Junior terrorizes everyone he meets. Ben almost returns Junior to the orphanage but at the last minute he decides he can't do that.
Beck, the bow tie killer, makes his way to the Healy house. He kidnaps Junior and Flo, and leaves a note for Ben telling him he's going to have to pay $100,000 if he wants them back.
Jack Warden plays Ben's father, Big Ben Healy. His role in the movie feels like it could have been eliminated or changed without losing much. He could have just been Ben's boss instead of both his father and his boss.
This was the first movie that director Denis Dugan's directed. Prior to this he had directed episodes of Moonlighting, Wiseguy, and Hunter. He has lots of screen credits as an actor (starting in the early 1970s) including a cameo appearance in this movie.
There's a moment toward the end of the movie where Ben rushes home after asking his father for the money to pay off Beck. There is no explanation of what led him to rush home but when he gets there the phone rings and it is Beck. Ben next rushes to the circus with the money but the only scene where Ben and Big Ben discussed the ransom money ended with Big Ben refusing to give him the money. Very strange.
I watched this movie because I hear it mentioned on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast fairly regularly. I don't think I had seen it before.
This movie has a little bit of a lot of different things. It isn't great but it does have moments that made me laugh. I'm glad I have seen it but I doubt that I will watch it again. There are two sequels but I don't have any burning desire to watch them.
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