REVIEW: Kindergarten Cop (Released in 1990) [30th Anniversary]

DIRECTOR: Ivan Reitman

PRODUCERS: Brian Grazer & Ivan Reitman

WRITERS: Murray Salem & Herschel Weingrod & Timothy Harris

PERFORMERS: Arnold Schwarzenegger Penelope Ann Miller Pamela Reed Richard Tyson

Carroll Baker Linda Hunt Cathy Moriarty Joseph Cousins & Christian Cousins

It seemed as if there was no stopping Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at the time was an already rising star, and apparently it appeared that somebody was already having the best time of their life. Having another film 'Total Recall' which was released in the same year, with this one you could say it was a back-to-back hit for him. Here, as I continue my series of films with anniversaries, we're going to take a look into perhaps one of Schwarzenegger's memorable action classics, one that had a twist: the additional element of comedy... something that hadn't been done before at the time. Before Rush Hour, before Cop Out and before Big Momma's House, there was Kindergarten Cop.

It all began 2 years ago when Schwarzenegger collaborated with director Ivan Reitman, the man who brought us classics like Stripes, Meatballs and most notably the enormously successful Ghostbusters, for a small comedy film called Twins which co-starred Danny DeVito alongside Schwarzenegger as twin brothers in search of their birth mother. It was an idea they had for a very long time and none of them we're concerned about the film's success or failure as they voluntarily did the film for no pay. But the film became successful anyway and it paved the way for this title... which was even more successful than the first latter.

Kindergarten Cop is the story of hardened police detective John Kimble (Schwarzenegger) who is assigned to locate a mother and son in hiding from a dangerous criminal (Richard Tyson) who he's been pursuing for 5 years. In a last ditch effort, he poses as a kindergarten teacher to identify them and protect them from his target. Schwarzenegger's turn in this film is a very impressive one because at the time you weren't used to seeing him playing characters like this. You only saw him as a machine or a commando, whatever character he played it was always a no-nonsense type. But after a movie like Twins you would think that anything is possible because the next thing you know, he's doing comedy, a genre that's meant to make us laugh till we hurt. That's where this film comes in: a comedic film with action and surprisingly enough: humor and heart.

You had a well written story, well written characters and just an unforgettable score you couldn't help but want to playback in your head every time you thought of this. As for the supporting players, from Penelope Ann Miller to Carroll Baker, how much more could you ask for? The chemistry Schwarzenegger has with everyone is there. For some reason, I always liked the scenes between him and Oscar Winner Linda Hunt, who played the school principal. Mainly because of her change of pace from a rather hardened character herself only to become more softer throughout the film even after she discover's Kimble's inexperience as a teacher and current occupation as a undercover detective. When Kimble stands up for one of his students that's going through child abuse, he becomes the beacon of light no one else was, when Hunt's character sees this she actually takes an imaginary punch herself after dismissing him from her office all the while keeping him on staff. His bonding with the class is what really stands out, over the course of his time undercover, he learns to be more soft himself and becomes a better teacher than officer. Of course, there's also the romance and obviously you can't have a good action-comedy film without romance. With the exception of Penelope Ann Miller you need not look no further as she plays a mother and ex-wife on the run from her ex-husband, watching her and Kimble fall in love with each other is always great. Of all the films she's done, this is the one I remember most. Over the years Miller has done some other great films alongside other great actors like Robert De Niro in Awakenings and Al Pacino in Carlito's Way. Tyson who plays the villain of the picture also turns in a good performance as he comes off very ruthless and cunning. Then there's Carroll Baker who plays Tyson's mother and man does she do a real good job at it too.

The direction of Reitman is really the core of this film's nostalgic feel. This is a guy who knows what it takes to make a good comedy. From his early days to this film, there was just nothing he couldn't do. When he directed Schwarzenegger and DeVito in Twins I don't think there was any inclination as to how that film would turn out to be despite doing the film with no pay. And when this came along, it only kept the people coming back for more. Then there's the score by Randy Eldeman, anytime I hear that score I get excited or tense based on the mood of the track. Even to this day I still like the musical score, that goes to show how much of an cultural impact things like this have on us today three decades later.

A long time ago, I was a super Schwarzenegger fan and when I saw this, there's no question on how glued I was to it. Like How Miller's character says that Kindergarten is like the ocean, in a way so is movies like this because you never want to take your eyes off it nor turn your back on it for that matter. It was the same thing for me back in those days when films were made the way they we 90's folks grew up seeing them. Sure things have changed since then and one new generation merged after the next, but one thing remains: those with the nostalgic feel stay with you forever. This film paved the way for undercover cop films I believe because several others such as the ones as listed above were born out of this one. I still enjoy this film as I did upon my first viewing and much like countless others, still don't remember how I got into it, just that I was at a young age and has stuck with me ever since. Happy 30th Anniversary to Kindergarten Cop! #KindergartenCop30thAnniversary #anniversaryreviews #filmsof1990 #KC30