“It’s not a tumour!”

It’s a catchphrase that found its way into the pop culture and has resurfaced over and over. And I never saw it originally. I was never interested in watching Arnold Schwarzenegger be funny. It just didn’t sound like a good time to me.

So now, some thirty-plus years on, I finally settled into watch it. And know what? I liked it. I laughed more than I thought, and the little kids in it are all pretty entertaining.

Schwarzenegger plays the rough-and-tumble John Kimble a police detective trying to arrest, and gather enough evidence to put stop, and finally put away 90s Channing Tatum look-alike, Crisp (Richard Tyson). And the chain of evidence is going to lead to Astoria, where his ex-romantic partner and child have been hiding out.

Kimble with Detective Phoebe O’Hara (Pamela Reed) at his side heads to the remote town to try to figure out what woman and child it is. It was initially planned that O’Hara would go undercover in the local school to figure out who the ex and child are, but when she falls incredibly ill it’s up to John to go undercover as the teacher, and those kids are going to tear him apart.

With lots of fun laughs, Kimble tries to wrangle all the children including Dominic (played by twins Joseph and Christian Cousins), the oh-so-recognizable Miko Hughes as Joesph, and Adam Wylie as Larry.

In a predictable piece of screenwriting, Dominic is revealed to be Crisp’s dad, and his mother, is Kimble’s fellow teacher, Joyce (Penelope Ann Miller). Also predictable is a bit of a romance springing up between Joyce and John which will, of course, cause problems when he has to reveal who he truly is to her and save her and Dominic when Crisp finally tracks them down.

It’s goofy, it’s fun and lets Schwarzenegger showcase some acting chops that let him be genuinely funny. Something he would combine with his action abilities a few short years later in True Lies.

There’s a lot of enjoyment to be mined from this one. Sure, some of it doesn’t work as well as it could now, and has aged a little badly, but its heart is pure, and it has some priceless moments that show that Arnold isn’t afraid to make fun of himself and have a good time doing it.

Having checked this one out, I fear I may have to dig into his other comedic entries.