Ben Healy and his social climbing wife Flo adopt fun-loving seven year old Junior. But they soon discover he's a little monster as he turns a camping trip, a birthday party and even a baseball game into comic nightmares.
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.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
rotten:
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.
– Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Sep 2011
rotten:
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.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2013
rotten:
Some kids are born bad. Others achieve badness. And some have badness thrust upon them. The same can be said of movies.
– Carrie Rickey,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
21 May 2013
rotten:
Sound funny? The filmmakers here think so. They've jacked this loud, lame shrieker of a movie up to the highest decibels, both aural and visual, and rammed it in our faces with almost numbing aplomb.