Junior: Nach dem Drehbuch von Kevin Wade und Chris Conrad by Leonore Fleischer

Junior: Nach dem Drehbuch von Kevin Wade und Chris Conrad Reviews

• 
  Realini

  Junior by Kevin Wade
  7.4 out of 10
  
  
  Danny DeVito is charming as always, Emma Thompson is not out for one of her best performances- this is not Sense and Sensibility or Remains of the Day - but she has a solid presentation, while Arnold Schwarzenegger, wooden and amateurish as ever, in the view of the undersigned, can deliver some smiles.
  
  The premise of the film could have been perceived as preposterous, absurd some decades ago, but although it is still and may forever be impossible, the idea of a pregnant man or a multitude can't be excluded for the future.
  
  'Nothing's impossible'
  
  Arnold Schwarzenegger is such a baffling figure ~ he seems to have had so little talent, not enough anyway to place it where among the stars, and yet he became such a household name in cinema.
  As if that was not enough, he has been the governor of California!
  
  On the other hand, he is perhaps one hundred times better than the present president!
  
  In Junior, he is Doctor Alex Hesse, the man who is willing to experiment on himself revolutionary concepts, in the manner of the one who has invented vaccination - named in the film.
  He works with Doctor Larry Arbogast aka the formidable Danny DeVito.
  
  One of the best comedy actors, DeVito seems to be at his best when acting as amusing crooks.
  In our circle, we have all learned quite a few of the lines from The Jewel of the Nile and some of his other comedies...
  
  'We need to get the Jewel
  The jewel...
  Yes
  What Jewel?
  The Jewel of the Nile...
  Oh, that jewel!'
  
  
  Doctor Arbogast is the one who makes Doctor Hesse pregnant...
  They use a new discovery and what seemed impossible becomes reality.
  
  Therefore a number of situations that are supposed to be funny, and sometimes they are.
  Alas, not that often.
  
  When Hesse talks to expecting women, as they all wait for a consultation, some may enjoy the lines, but others will just find the dialogue ridiculous.
  Danny DeVito is most often the one who brings the show back to life.
  
  When Hesse is waiting at his cabinet, his mimic, gestures and acting resurcitate the comedy.
  It is a one man show for the undersigned, for large parts of the motion picture.
  
  I can't understand how they could nominate Schwarzenegger for a Golden Globe for his part.
  
  
• 
  Michelle

  He's Having My Baby
  
  Junior was one of my favourite films when I was younger, during my Arnie phase. Having rewatched it recently, I found it was still the same as I remembered and I was delighted to see that there was a novelization as well. Leonore Fleischer (who also wrote the novelization of Rain Man) has stuck close to the script and brought a well rounded book.
  
  There are a few minor differences between the book and the film. The book doesn't start off with the baby-in-the-library-dream-sequence, it starts off with some omnipresent being talking about babies. I initially interpreted this to be Alex, just due to how technical it was being, however, it soon brings the reader into the storyline, and it gets told normally. The omnipresent being disappears for most of the book, only popping up again towards the end. Alice, Alex's rather droll assistant, doesn't get expanded upon as much as I would like, although she does pop up a little more. The dance scene is different, Alex has to get pushed through the window at the top of the fire escape when he is trying to get to the hospital and there are a couple of insignificant changes with dialogue.
  
  Diana's character comes across as a bit stern in her first few scenes, sadly missing the characteristic scatterbrained-ness that Emma Thompson brought to the role - particularly in the scene where Larry is liberating Junior.
  
  Angela (Larry's wife) also has an additional scene, which solves the mystery of where they were able to pick up some of the more feminine items for Alexandra's escape to Casitas Madres - although it doesn't necessarily clear up that they managed to get items that were the same size!
  
  I wouldn't say there's much additional background to the characters, as much as possible has already been included on screen. It is only 186 pages, compared to the 1hr 49 minutes of screentime, so it is a relatively quick and easy read and can be read as a standalone book if you have not seen the movie. Although why you would buy a novelization if you haven't seen the movie, I don't know.
  
  Overall, I think this is an excellent novelization, that sticks closely to the script, but is lacking on providing any additional background to the characters. Still a great read though.
  
• 
  Diane

  AUTHOR: Leonore Fleischer
  TITLE: Junior
  DATE READ: 6/8/21
  TIME/PLACE: 4pm on bed in camper, Antioch, IL
  RATING: 6/10
  FIRST SENTENCE: The instinct to reproduce is one of the three basic human instincts, ranking only after the instinct to survive and the pressing urge to find a decent fat-free ice cream.
  GENRE: Fiction, Novelization, Movie Tie-in, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
  PUB DATE/PUBLISHER: 1994, Jove Books
  TYPE: Paperback
  # OF PAGES: 186
  SERIES/STAND-ALONE: stand-alone
  CHALLENGE: A Book recommended by a friend (my sister)
  LIST READ: book/movie combo #613
  CHARACTERS: Dr Alex Hesse, Dr Diana Reddin, Dr Larry & Angela Arbogast
  LOCATION: San Francisco, CA
  COMMENTS: I read this for the book/movie combo project which my sister and I are doing together. It was a bit over-the-top and hard to believe that a man could carry a growing baby without fatally damaging his internal organs.