Twins (1988)

Far from the idiot farce its publicity suggested, this comedy by Ivan (Ghostbusters) Reitman is gentle, sweet, pleasant and highly agreeable. It also catapults Arnold Schwarzenegger into a new dimension as something other than a talking Mack truck.

Arnie is the result of a genetic experiment that backfires, producing mismatched twins.

Arnold’s the pure, virtuous Charles Atlas, and Danny DeVito is “all the crap that was left over.”

Innocent and gullible, with an IQ as big as his biceps, Arnold uses his muscles to protect his brother, while DeVito, with the mind of a con man and the body of a toad, uses his twin’s good-natured innocence with larceny in mind.

Before the movie runs out of gas, there are some funny bits when Arnold nukes his dinner in a microwave and DeVito heads for Texas carrying stolen goods in his trunk, with Arnold and two sex kittens in tow.

By the end, DeVito learns the value of self-respect and Arnold is no longer a 230-pound virgin.

This is as unlikely a screen team as the movies will ever invent, but the casting is so inspired you get double the pleasure, double the fun.

Vincent Benedict
Danny DeVito
Julius Benedict
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Marnie Mason
Kelly Preston
Linda Mason
Chloe Webb
Old Mary Ann Benedict
Bonnie Bartlett
Webster
Marshall Bell
Beetroot McKinley
Trey Wilson
Granger
Hugh O’Brian
Al Greco
David Caruso
Werner
Tony Jay
Mitchell Traven
Nehemiah Persoff
Burt Klane
Maury Chaykin
Bob Klane
Tom McCleister
Morris Klane
David Efron
Peter Garfield
Peter Dvorsky

Director
Ivan Reitman