Junior [PG]

Dr. Alex Hesse and his partner Dr. Larry Arbogast are on the verge of a medical breakthrough, having created a drug that will help struggling woman conceive a baby. But then their project is terminated due to fund cuts and, unwilling to give up on the project so close to success, the two decide to carry out a human experimentation without proper authority or approval. Unable to find a female to test on, Larry steals a cryogenically frozen egg and the two decide to attempt the inconceivable: getting a man pregnant! 

These early 90s films from the team-up of DeVito, Schwarzenegger, and Reitman, are real classic comedies that every film buff should have in their repertoire. Junior is a wonderful film that has the power to delight its audience into frenzies of giggles, suspenseful outbursts, and tears. It’s not a work of cinematic genius, but it’s nice and light as well as heart-warming and good to come back to once in a while. 

Dr. Alex Hesse and his partner Dr. Larry Arbogast are on the verge of a medical breakthrough, having created a drug that will help struggling woman conceive a baby. But then their project is terminated due to fund cuts and, unwilling to give up on the project so close to successful completion, the two decide to carry out a human experimentation without the proper authority or approval. Unable to find a female to test on, Larry steals a cryogenically frozen egg and the two decide to attempt the inconceivable: getting a man pregnant! 

The idea of a man getting pregnant already gets a laugh, so the film had that to begin with. 

Then you have the wonderful performance that Arnold Schwarzenegger gave as Alex, the soon-to-be-mum. Beginning the film as quite uptight and driven by facts and stable routine, to see him explore a more emotional territory during his pregnancy was lovely. He did a great job capturing that radiance and glow that women get when they’re about to become mothers and then the climactic emotional scene at the end had me smiling warmly with tears welling up. You’ve got to love good ol’ Arnie. 

Starring Danny DeVito, Emma Thompson, who was absolutely delightful and very funny, Pamela Reed, and Frank Langella, Junior is a classic comedy that’s filled with science, romance, food, mood swings, and a bit of cross-dressing. It also completely throws that age-long question of nature vs. nurture entirely out the window. Classic.