Of course Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known for his roles in action movies and thrillers. Strange, then, that I've always enjoyed him far more when he gets himself into the light comedy genre. "Twins" (in which he co-stars with Danny Devito) is certainly one of those light comedies, and as usual Arnold does well with it. It is "light." The story is rather silly - which it's intended to be, so that's not a criticism. Schwarzenegger and DeVito play the Benedict twins (Julius and Vincent respectively.) Julius was the result of a scientific experiment to create the perfect human being. The experiment worked well on Julius. He's peaceful, centred, and very spiritual in a way. Nothing much bothers him. He's been raised on a deserted island with the scientists who ran the experiment - told that his mother had died giving birth to him, and not told a very big piece of information. After he was born, his mother had given birth to a second child who had been immediately put in an orphanage in Los Angeles. Fascinated by the thought of having a twin brother, Julius (with no experience of the real world) sets out to find him and to bring his family together.
Schwarzenegger was great in the role. He played the part of the naive, innocent Julius discovering the world for the first time perfectly, and he's quite funny at times. Some of the fun in the movie, of course, simply comes from the contrast between the twins - the big muscular Julius, and the short, fat Vincent. These guys are twins? Vincent got the raw end of the experiment. If Julius turned out perfect, Vincent is a guy with a questionable past - a guy owing big money to loan sharks who steals cars. At first, he doesn't quite believe Julius is his brother, but he's willing to take advantage of the situation, so big Julius becomes in effect his bodyguard. ("If you mess with me, you mess with my whole family" he says to one of the loan shark's collectors after Julius has knocked him senseless, as he defends his beloved brother.) But the relationship grows, especially as the two start to seek out the mother they believe is still alive.
Supported by Chloe Webb (as Vincent's girlfriend) and Kelly Preston (as her sister who falls for Julius) this is a pretty funny movie and a fun movie to watch. Adding unnecessary romances to a movie usually doesn't do much for me, but in this case the growing relationship between Julius and Marnie (Preston) highlighted the innocence of Julius, as he has no sense of how to make this relationship work. The movie chooses, unfortunately, to end on a rather silly note. Yeah, it was a silly movie, but (without giving it away) I didn't think the ending added anything to the story. Still, though, it's a good movie, and another of Schwarzenegger's very enjoyable comedic romps. (7/10
Schwarzenegger was great in the role. He played the part of the naive, innocent Julius discovering the world for the first time perfectly, and he's quite funny at times. Some of the fun in the movie, of course, simply comes from the contrast between the twins - the big muscular Julius, and the short, fat Vincent. These guys are twins? Vincent got the raw end of the experiment. If Julius turned out perfect, Vincent is a guy with a questionable past - a guy owing big money to loan sharks who steals cars. At first, he doesn't quite believe Julius is his brother, but he's willing to take advantage of the situation, so big Julius becomes in effect his bodyguard. ("If you mess with me, you mess with my whole family" he says to one of the loan shark's collectors after Julius has knocked him senseless, as he defends his beloved brother.) But the relationship grows, especially as the two start to seek out the mother they believe is still alive.
Supported by Chloe Webb (as Vincent's girlfriend) and Kelly Preston (as her sister who falls for Julius) this is a pretty funny movie and a fun movie to watch. Adding unnecessary romances to a movie usually doesn't do much for me, but in this case the growing relationship between Julius and Marnie (Preston) highlighted the innocence of Julius, as he has no sense of how to make this relationship work. The movie chooses, unfortunately, to end on a rather silly note. Yeah, it was a silly movie, but (without giving it away) I didn't think the ending added anything to the story. Still, though, it's a good movie, and another of Schwarzenegger's very enjoyable comedic romps. (7/10