INTRO: Comedies involving a central pair of main characters usually have one thing in common; their premise is generally very simple. Take 1994’s Dumb and Dumber, for example. The Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels all-time classic comedy, in which two hapless, hopeless losers attempt to return a suitcase full of cash to its rightful owner, thrives on how simple both the plot and the two main characters are. The Farrellys had an amazing knack in the 1990s for delivering comedies that were hilarious because they had a simple idea for the plot, plus they weren’t worried about upsetting anybody with outrageous sequences. Those were the days. You couldn’t produce mainstream comedies such as Me, Myself and Irene, Kingpin or There’s Something About Mary nowadays, for fear of upsetting someone.
However, back in the late eighties, audiences, and studios, were a touch more liberal in their thinking, and the simple premise for a comedy was stretched into a high-concept idea in some cases. Up until this point in the decade, Arnold Schwarzenegger hadn’t starred in an out-and-out comedy. Well, not intentionally anyway. I’m not counting Hercules in New York, as although it’s more or less a comedy, it featured an Arnie who was still coming to terms with his grasp for speaking English on screen, and it was very much a simple introduction to Hollywood for the actor. There had been humour in his movies, of course, mainly thanks to those awesome one-liners in Commando and Raw Deal, for example, but he hadn’t tackled a major starring role in a comedy yet. That was until the opportunity to test himself alongside a figurative giant in the comedy world came along; 1988’s Twins. The movie brought the unlikely pairing of Arnie and Taxi star Danny DeVito together as siblings who are reunited at the age of 35. However, did the gamble for the Austrian Oak to stretch his comedic chops pay off, or should he have stuck to impaling Aussies on steam pipes? Stick around to find out here, on ARNIE REVISITED!
SET-UP: By the time Universal Pictures greenlit Twins they were under no illusion that the movie would be a guaranteed box-office hit, as up until that point, Arnie was only a bankable star because of his proven track record for kick-ass action movies. So, they took some insurance out on the film by agreeing with Schwarzenegger that he would voluntarily take no salary, in exchange for a cut of the movie’s profits. Both co-star Dann Devito and director Ivan Reitman also made similar deals.
Arnie was desperate to land the role of Julias Benedict in the movie because he wanted to break the perception that he could only be successful in action movies like The Terminator or The Running Man. The actor has always had an unwavering belief in his abilities, and if you’ve read his book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, you’ll know he has an unparalleled desire to test and push himself at every possible opportunity. Looking back on the film’s production during an interview in 2016, Arnie described the decision to drop his salary as “one of the best” in his entire life. You’ll see why when we dive into the box-office returns a little later in the video.
As we all know, the legendary director Ivan Reitman sadly passed away in February 2022, at the age of 75. His wonderful career spanned several decades and he gave us gems such as Stripes, Ghostbusters and of course, the fun movie we’re focusing on in this episode, Twins. He leaves behind a lasting legacy, and his leading man in Twins recalls the appreciation he has for the late director when talking about how he took a punt on the Austrian Oak’s comedy chops when there was doubt in the studio’s minds. Speaking shortly after Reitman’s death, Arnie said, “If you knew him, Ivan had a way of making himself a part of your story, and he certainly wrote a chunk of mine. I’ll always be grateful that he took a chance on this Austrian action-hero in a comedy during a time when the studios just wanted me to focus on finding new ways to kill bad guys, blow things up, and show off some muscles.” It was certainly a gamble to throw
himself into an out-and-out comedic role, but Arnie has never been one to let other people’s doubts get in the way of his ambitions.
Reitman also took on producing duties for the movie, which was co-written by William Davies, Timothy Harris, William Osborne and Herschel Weingrod. With Arnie locked, loaded and ready to stretch those comedy chops, he joined an ensemble that was an eclectic mix of comedy veterans and excellent supporting and character actors. The other main lead was, of course, Danny DeVito as Arnie’s slightly more diminutive twin, Vincent, who plays the perfect foil to Arnie’s more statuesque Julius. Joining the lead actors is the great Kelly Preston as Julius’ girlfriend Marnie, Chloe Webb as Linda, Marnie’s sister and also Vincent’s girlfriend. We also get Bonnie Bartlett as Mary, the twins’ biological mother, NYPD Blue veteran David Caruso as Al Greco, a friend of Vincent’s, plus smaller roles for the likes of Trey Wilson, Hugh O’Brian, and Tony Jay. There’s also room for a young Heather Graham to squeeze in a cheeky cameo, as a young Mary Ann.
The movie was mainly shot on location in New Mexico with the American state providing backgrounds including the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos, the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe and buildings in Los Alamos. The original music score was composed by Georges Delerue and Randy Edelman. Edelman has scored three more films for the director, the fun Ghostbusters II and Kindergarten Cop, plus the doomed Six Days, Seven Nights, whereas this was Delerue’s only work for him.
REVIEW: Before Twins was released, Arnold Schwarzenegger was never consistently funny, well not intentionally anyway, and Danny De Vito had never got the girl on screen. It was largely a one-joke project that, in the wrong hands, could have ended up being a prize turkey for all involved. Arnie was desperate to prove the naysayers wrong; to show the world that he wasn’t just a muscle-bound action hero who cracked iconic
one-liners and bones, but not necessarily jokes. The film has gained a cult status over the years, despite lukewarm reviews upon release, but does it hold up more than thirty years later? Well, the answer to that for this Arnie fan is mostly a belly-laughing yes, although it has some issues that stop it from being up there with Ghostbusters in terms of humour, or Ruthless People for DeVito, while it does prove that Arnie can handle comedy.
In the 80s, high-concept movies were in their heyday. If you could break down the premise for your new movie into just a few words and grab your audience instantly, you would be laughing all the way to box-office gold; wise-cracking Detroit cop takes over chic Beverly Hills, a rugged Aussie crocodile hunter takes a bite out of the Big Apple. Screenwriters would be urged to think in one-line pitches and have the movie’s poster mapped out in their heads while working out the plot of their next blockbuster. Twins fits into this model effortlessly, and the posters’ tagline almost writes itself. The plot is therefore unique, but also fairly straightforward; a brilliant but naive virgin called Julius and a coarse but endearing schemer named Vincent find out they’re fraternal twins, and hilarity, mostly, ensues. Julius was planned, grows to athletic proportions and is raised by philosophers, while the orphaned Vincent becomes a lowlife who’s about to be killed by loan sharks before Julius eventually finds his long-lost brother.
The concept for the movie is preposterous, naturally, but the likeable charm of Arnie and DeVito carries it through, with the resulting humour being just about consistently funny enough, to make it a worthwhile entry in the Austrian Oaks’ back catalogue. DeVito has been in better comedies, so there’s no surprise that he excels in the role of a twin who finds out he was basically a mistake, with his brother getting all the good stuff while he got the ‘leftovers’. The plot could have gone off the rails once some stolen contraband is introduced, but director Reitman chooses to forego the stereotypical Arnie movie traits like shoot-outs and car chases, for something a little more nuanced. The choice to make Arnie’s Julius a virgin is also quite clever, with a funny love scene with Kelly Preston on a motel room floor a standout scene.
Ultimately though, the gags don’t come as thick or as fast as the zany concept should have allowed them to. There’s a nice nod to Arnie’s rivalry with Sylvester Stallone, with the actor comparing his muscles to Stallone’s in a poster for Rambo in one scene. However, one decent gag every so often isn’t quite enough to elevate Twins above anything other than a half-decent comedy with some great central performances.
LEGACY / NOW: Twins was released domestically on December 9th, 1988, opening as the number-one movie with an $11 million haul over its opening weekend. It retained the top spot for the next two weekends and went on to gross $112 million domestically, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film in the US that was released in 1988. The movie was released in the UK market on March 17th, 1989 and also topped the charts, helping the film to an impressive £216 million worldwide on a reported budget of only $18 million. Arnie and co were certainly wise to drop their salaries in place of a share of the box office for this one.
Critically, as I mentioned earlier, the movie received a mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 42% approval rating based on 43 reviews, with an average score of 4.8/10. The consensus states: “Though it offers a few modest pleasures for undemanding viewers, Twins leans too heavily on the wackiness of its premise to overcome its narrative shortcomings.” The more traditional critics were also mixed with how well they thought the movie worked, with Empire saying that, “The humour, when it comes, is on a par with Reitman’s Ghostbusters, but the film feels, rather than the solid comedy it is, like a massive missed opportunity.” More enthused was Roger Ebert, who gave the film three out of five stars and called it, “Engaging entertainment with some big laughs and a sort of warm goofiness.”
For this Arnie fan, Twins was, and still is, a fun, serviceable comedy with a great premise, that’s let down by a lack of consistently hilarious gags. The cast are all great and Arnie proves that he can handle comedy, with the impressive box office persuading
the studios to cast him in more comedies. There have also been rumours, announcements, then ultimate cancellations of a sequel to the movie which, let’s face it, is probably a good thing. Some high-concept movies belong to the time in which they were conceived, as it were, so I think Twins should be left alone. However, as usual, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on the movie, plus whether a sequel should ever appear, despite Jason Reitman claiming it’s never going to happen without his father. Let me know what you think in the comments, and I’ll see you wonderful action fans next time here on ARNIE REVISITED. Thanks for watching!
