Twins is a 1988 comedy film, produced and directed by Ivan Reitman about unlikely twins (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito) who were separated at birth. The core of the film is the relationship between DeVito's streetwise character and Schwarzenegger's intellectual persona. The films characters are based on Stacey Cosby and Zara Hughes. The original music score was composed by Georges Delerue and Randy Edelman (Edelman would score three more films for the director, whereas this was Delerue's only work for him). It grossed $11 million on its opening weekend, and went on to gross $216 million worldwide. Schwarzenegger and DeVito rather than taking their usual salary for the film, both agreed with the studio to take 20% of the film's box office, which resulted in them receiving the biggest paychecks of their movie careers.
Plot
Julius Benedict (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Vincent Benedict (Danny DeVito) are fraternal twins, the results of a secret experiment carried out at a U.S. Government genetics laboratory to produce the perfect child. To the surprise of the scientists, the embryo split and twins were born. One twin, Julius, is seemingly "perfect", exhibiting all the traits the scientists were hoping to achieve, while the other, Vincent, is much more "average", to the scientists' dismay. The mother, Mary Ann Benedict, was told that Julius died at birth, and not told about Vincent at all. Julius was informed that his mother died in childbirth. Vincent believed his mother abandoned him. Each twin is unaware of the other's existence.
Vincent was placed in an orphanage run by nuns in Los Angeles, where mostly had to learn everything by himself. Julius was taken to a South Pacific island and raised by Professor Werner (Tony Jay), growing into a handsome, muscled Adonis, receiving tutelage in art and intellectual pursuits. On Julius' 35th birthday, Werner tells him that he has a twin brother. Although Werner is concerned about Julius' quest to find his twin, Julius protests he must do so, feeling that his brother needs help.
Julius discovers Vincent lives in L.A., and travels throughout the city. Though intelligent, he is extremely naïve about the real world his more streetwise brother inhabits. He inadvertently foils an attempt by two thieves to mug him, but thinks it was a motorcycle accident from nearly bumping into him. He finds Vincent in jail for unpaid parking fines. Vincent is scornful when Julius tells him they are twins, but lets Julius bail him out and then drives off. Julius again shows his unfamiliarity with the world by thinking Vincent is being spirited. Julius tracks Vincent to his workplace, where he is being beaten by Morris, a member of a loan shark family known as the Klane brothers, for an unpaid debt. Julius rescues Vincent by easily overpowering Morris and earns Vincent's respect and trust. He meets Vincent's on-again-off-again girlfriend, Linda Mason (Chloe Webb). Knowing little about women, Julius is oblivious to the flirtatious advances of her blond sister Marnie (Kelly Preston). Although Julius starts to develop feelings for Marnie, he decides the ideal relationship is one that is slow paced and respectful. Vincent shows Julius a document he stole from the orphanage which proves their mother is still alive but, believing she abandoned him, he has no interest in finding her, but reconsiders when Julius meets with one of their fathers, a retired NFL player, who hints that Mary Ann was deceived as well.
Vincent steals a Cadillac to sell to his chop-shop contact, and discovers a secret prototype fuel injector in the trunk, which was to be delivered to industrialist Beetroot McKinley in Houston for US$5 million. He decides to deliver it himself and collect the money. Webster (Marshall Bell), the original delivery man, begins ruthlessly searching for the person who stole the prototype. In searching Vincent's home, Webster crosses paths with the Klane brothers, whom he shoots in the leg when they attack him. At Julius' insistence, the two couples go on a cross-country journey to track down Professor Mitchell Traven (Nehemiah Persoff), the scientist who oversaw the project which produced the twins and the one who named Vincent. Eventually they find him in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and after initially lying to them, an angry Julius kicks his office door in and forces him to tell them the truth. While praising Julius and belittling Vincent as a side-effect, Traven tells them that their mother is living in an art colony near Santa Fe, with Julius threatening to return if Traven is lying to them. The Klane brothers and their two cousins find them again, with the intent of killing Vincent (blaming him for Webster's crippling), but Julius and Vincent fight them off for the last time. Later on that night, Marnie swaps rooms with Vincent and she spends the night with Julius. At the art colony, a woman informs them that Mary Ann is dead and they leave. In reality, she is their mother but disbelieved their story because she was told her son had died during childbirth by the scientists. Meanwhile, Webster is also getting closer to finding Vincent.
While Julius accepts their mother's death, Vincent becomes bitter and storms off, leaving Julius and the girls stranded in New Mexico, to deliver the engine to Beetroot McKinley. Linda tells Julius about the engine and Julius once again sets off to find his brother. Vincent delivers the stolen property to Beetroot, but the man and his assistant are shot and killed by Webster, who then turns his attention to Vincent just as Julius arrives. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues and Julius intercepts Webster as Vincent flees, but Vincent, feeling his brother's presence, reluctantly goes back and gives up the money to Webster. Webster then plans to kill the twins but is himself killed when Vincent releases a heavy industrial chain that crushes Webster. Julius and Vincent make their peace, and Vincent reluctantly agrees to return the money and the stolen engine to the authorities, but secretly skims off one million. Meanwhile, the twins' publicity reaches the art colony, and their mother realizes that the two "comedians" who visited her were her long-lost sons after all.
Julius and Vincent marry the Masons, and use the $50,000 reward money to start up a legitimate consulting business and pay off Vincent's debts, using Julius' knowledge and Vincent's questionable business savvy. Mary Ann tracks them down and they share a happy reunion. Some time later, both brothers' wives have given birth to twins and the entire family, including Mary Ann and Werner, is spending time together at an amusement park.
Cast
Reception
Twins received mostly mixed and negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 38% based on reviews from 29 critics. However, Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "engaging entertainment with some big laughs and a sort of warm goofiness."
Sequel
In 1994 Reitman directed Junior, again starring DeVito and Schwarzenegger. Although not a sequel, it shared a similar theme, this time an experiment about male pregnancy.
In March 2012, Universal announced the development of a sequel titled Triplets. Schwarzenegger and DeVito will return, with Eddie Murphy as their long-lost brother. Ivan Reitman will co-produce.
During a June 2013 interview, Schwarzenegger said that a sequel, calling it Twins 2, was still in the works; however, it would likely not be out until after Terminator 5, which is due for release on July 1, 2015.
See also
- List of American films of 1988
References
External links
- Twins at the Internet Movie Database
- Twins at AllMovie
- Twins at Rotten Tomatoes