Problem Child (1990)

(In French, On Cable TV, December 2020) The 1980s weren’t exactly the sanest decade for movies, and as Problem Child shows, corruption went all the way to so-called kids’ movies. It does take a special kind of studio executive to greenlight a kid’s film that plays on black comedy, where the hero eventually ditches his wife in favour of an incorrigible seven-year-old. But that’s the kind of film it is: Destructive pranks, dangerous jokes and a serial killer as an antagonist. The title character is deliberately portrayed as abrasive with few redeeming qualities until the expected middle-film shift. Problem Child goes so far as upend traditional values by focusing on the growing father-son bond, with the increasingly evil wife being stuffed in a suitcase and sent to Mexico (this is not a metaphor). The script clearly shows a satirical intent that seems undermined by director Dennis Dugan otherwise following “heartwarming” family film traditions to a ridiculous intent – few will be surprised to learn that the studio insisted on numerous changes throughout production in order to end not with a satire but a family film… except that the seams still show a disjointed result. Again, no wonder if Problem Child has become a minor cult classic since its release: it’s bonkers in very weird and specific ways, and any film that has viewers thinking, “I can’t believe this was ever made” has an advantage over a terminally forgettable one.