Kindergarten Cop

"Go ahead, YOU tell him you didn't do your homework."

1990 1h 51m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 2,916

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.

“Go ahead, YOU tell him you didn't do your homework.”

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Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Kimble
Penelope Ann Miller
Joyce
Pamela Reed
Phoebe
Linda Hunt
Miss Schlowski
Richard Tyson
Crisp
Carroll Baker
Eleanor Crisp
Joseph Cousins
Dominic
Christian Cousins
Dominic

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Murray Salem, Herschel Weingrod, Timothy Harris
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $202M — a 13.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Kindergarten Cop Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ivan Reitman, shot by Michael Chapman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Wendy Greene Bricmont shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Penelope Ann Miller and Pamela Reed carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ivan Reitman directs. Michael Chapman behind the camera. Randy Edelman scores. Wendy Greene Bricmont cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $202M — a 13.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4Part of the "Kindergarten Cop Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Ivan Reitman, shot by Michael Chapman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Wendy Greene Bricmont shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Arnold Schwarzenegger and Penelope Ann Miller and Pamela Reed carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Go ahead, YOU tell him you didn't do your homework.".
10IMDB entry: tt0099938 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "drug dealer", "dying and death", "police", "crime fighter".

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Chapman
Original score: Randy Edelman
Editing: Wendy Greene Bricmont
Production design: Bruno Rubeo
Costume design: Gloria Gresham
Makeup / hair: Ken Chase
Sound: Gary C. Bourgeois
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $201,957,688
Return: 1346% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Kindergarten Cop (1990)

Part of

Kindergarten Cop Collection

Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman, distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, A direct-to-DVD sequel was released in 2016 called Kindergarten Cop 2 starring Dolph Lundgren.

Also by

Ivan Reitman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

bensonmum22017-12-16
★ 7/10
John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a cop assigned to put a killer named Crisp behind bars for good. To do so, Kimble needs to find Crisp's son and ex-wife. All he knows for certain is the name of the small Oregon town where the live and that the boy is kindergarten age. Kimble goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to try to find the boy. Even though he's a tough cop on a mission, Kimble realizes, to his amazement, that he enjoys teaching the kids. He also finds a love interest in one of the other teachers, Joyce (Penelope Ann Miller) - a single mother whose son is in Kimble's class. And, as luck would have it, Kimble discovers that Joyce is Crisp's ex-wife. How convenient! Kimble will have to act fact, though, because Crisp is on his way to collect his son. For the most part, Kindergarten Cop is an enjoyable movie. Schwarzenegger seems naturally unnatural around the kids, but that works in the film's favor. Kimble should be awkward around his class. There are a number of humorous interactions between the un-humorous Kimble and the kids - my favorite being his reaction to the kid obsessed with death. Good stuff. As awkward as Schwarzenegger is around the children, it's the exact opposite when it comes to his co-star, Miller. There's a nice chemistry between the two that really shows on-screen. I would have loved to see the pair make more movies together. Another plus for kindergarten cop is Pamela Reed playing Kimble's partner. Reed is always good and gives a solid performance here. Throw in some nice action toward the film's conclusion and Kindergarten Cop ends up being a nice experience. I do, however, have two complaints. First, the film is too long. I really think that if just 10 to 15 minutes were cut from the runtime, it would be a better, tighter movie. Cut the scenes with Cathy Moriarty, for example. They add zilch to the final product. Second, baddie Crisp and his mother aren't threatening enough. They're jokes. Had the pair been played with a more menacing tone, the final showdown would have been even better. Still, it's a solid film as is.
tmdb440066252019-03-10
★ 7/10
Between Kindergarten Cop and Predator, you will learn about half of Arnold's famous one liners. That doesn't mean Kindergarten Cop is laughable trash. In fact, it's a wonderfully heartwarming story about broken families and how we learn to communicate with children. Also, it's just hilarious watching Arnold interact with kids. This is one of those personal favourites of mine that I watch at least once every couple years or so. I love it from it's hilariously campy opener right up to its surprisingly violent ending. It's perfect for the guys to laugh and quote Arnold, and perfect for the girls to gush over how adorable the kids are.
John Chard2020-02-17
★ 6/10
It's his toughest assignment so far! Kindergarten Cop is directed by Ivan Reitman and it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Kimble, a tough police detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch drug dealing baddie Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson) before Crisp can get to his ex-wife and son. However, having no teaching experience previouslly, Kimble finds the children a right handful. Not only that but he finds himself attracted to another teacher, Joyce (Penelope Ann Miller) to further complicate things. Sandwiched in between "Total Recall" and "Terminator 2:Judgement Day", is this light action comedy on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Curriculum Vitae. With a salary of $12 million in his pocket the big Austrian revels in playing comedy. Much as he did with "Twins" from 1988, Schwarzenegger is comfortable in making himself the butt of the jokes. With a crazy premise such as this one it was imperative that he got the feel of the comedy right, something that he achieves in spades. Schwarzenegger's play off with all the children is good fun cinema, even tender at times. For in amongst the froth the writers still slot in serious issues, issues that Schwarzenegger, in spite of his obvious lack of acting gravitas, grasps with two gigantic hands. There's no surprises in store within the plot, and I'm pretty sure for a film of this type nobody is seriously expecting any. Yet the good honest fun makes this one for all the family to enjoy. With good support from Miller & Reed, and of course the army of sprightly children, Schwarzenegger once again doesn't take himself seriously. Hollywood, like it or not, is all the better for it. 6.5/10