JUNIOR is a contender for Arnold Schwarzenegger's worst film, a spectacularly ill-conceived comedy in which the action star plays a research scientist who falls pregnant thanks to some pioneering treatment. It's the third teaming for the star and director Ivan Reitman, following on from TWINS and KINDERGARTEN COP, and it's a stuttering misfire from the start.

First off, I have to say that the subject matter doesn't really lend itself to comedy. There are some jokes here, many of them obvious, but for a lot of the running time the film adopts a mawkish and sentimental tone which doesn't make for a very enjoyable viewing experience. There are also HUGE plot holes surrounding the male pregnancy, such as the film not explaining how the baby grows in Schwarzenegger's stomach without an umbilical cord.

The worst thing about the story is the script, which is threadbare in the extreme. Characters like the shoe-horned in villain played by Frank Langella are lame and just a way to clutter up the running time. The acting is pretty bad, particularly in the case of the excruciating Emma Thompson, whose attempts at 'slapstick' humour fall flat time and time again. I could hardly bear to watch her in this. Schwarzenegger himself is wooden, playing an unlikeable character, and the only decent performance comes from Danny DeVito. Sadly his presence alone isn't enough to make this anywhere near a good movie.

Alex Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is an University professor working with Dr. Larry Arbogast (Danny DeVito) on a new drug to reduce miscarriages. However the FDA rejects human trials and Noah Banes (Frank Langella) shuts down Hesse. Bumbling Dr. Diana Reddin (Emma Thompson) moves into Hesse's lab space. Arbogast's ex-wife Angela (Pamela Reed) finds out that she's pregnant from another man. Arbogast is down $300k and convinces Hesse to test the drug on himself. Arbogast steals an egg from Reddin's stash.

This isn't funny no matter how much talent director Ivan Reitman puts up on the screen. It's an odd gimmick and a quirky movie poster. It takes forever to get to any jokes and Emma Thompson doing slapstick is not funny. Arnold has a lot of lame pregnancy jokes with him playing the emotional girl. That is cute for awhile but no big laughs. They could have gone the more inappropriate route. At least, that would be something interesting. Cross dressing is fun but it feels more like a last minute attempt to pump some jokes into this movie.

In summing up, this movie is good but it isn't great. It does have its faults, but I found it surprisingly enjoyable. Starting with its problems, the film is a little too long, Pamela Reed is very underused which is a shame as I like her a lot as an actress and comedienne and there are one or two predictable parts. On the plus side, it is very well made with great cinematography and scenery, and the music is very nice. The pacing and direction are both very slick, and while Junior is basically very one-joke, there were some funny moments and the script does well to convey this. The acting is what drove Junior though, as well as the great if rather ridiculous concept. Arnold Schwarznegger is surprisingly entertaining here in one of his more lighter roles, while Danny DeVito is even better and Emma Thompson is absolutely gorgeous as the clumsy scientist and love interest(though I will say as a fan of hers she has given better performances). Overall, I liked it, it wasn't great but it wasn't awful either. 7/10 Bethany Cox