''First Kid'' is a 1996 American

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by David Mickey Evans and starring Sinbad and

Brock Pierce Brock Jeffrey Pierce (born November 14, 1980) is an American entrepreneur known primarily for his work in the cryptocurrency industry and as the co-founder of Tether (cryptocurrency), Tether. As a child actor, he starred in the Disney films ''The ...

. It was mostly filmed in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

Plot

Sam Simms is a

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

agent assigned by his superior, Wilkes, to protect President Paul Davenport's rebellious 13-year-old son, Luke Davenport, after Luke's behavior causes another agent, Woods, to be replaced for mistreating Luke in front of media cameras. Simms sees this assignment as undesirable, but a possible stepping stone to protecting the President. He fails to connect with the boy at first, and Luke continues to misbehave. After seeing Luke get beat up by the school bully, Rob, Luke's parents punish him, even though he didn't start the fight. Because of the re-election, they can't risk Luke going out in public for a month while his parents are on the campaign trail. Simms feels sorry for him - he had felt alone as a teenager, too (he lost his father in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

while his mother worked 2-3 jobs to financially support him) - and they become friends. Simms, a former boxer, agrees to sneak Luke out against the wishes of his parents and teach him how to fight. Meanwhile, Luke agonizes over asking the cutest girl, Katie, to the school dance, which he finally does successfully with Simms's help. However, while Simms and Luke are practicing some moves for the dance, the Secret Service director Morton tells them that they can't go to the dance due to an emergency lockdown. A duffel bag left unattended on the sidewalk outside the main entrance is being investigated by the bomb squad. Simms, breaking the rules, takes Luke to the dance. There, Rob tries to attack Luke again while Simms is distracted, but this time, Luke puts him down. After that, Secret Service agents bust the school dance and retrieve Luke. Simms is fired and not allowed to speak with Luke, who is crushed that his friend has apparently "abandoned" him. Luke, under house arrest and with a homing device attached to him, receives advice from an online friend, Mongoose12, on how to escape the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

and meet him at a local mall. Luke agrees, but it is revealed that Mongoose12 was in fact former agent Woods, who abducts him. When Luke goes missing, Simms is given another chance to protect him. With the help of his friend and former colleague Harold (a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

who owns a spy shop), he quickly tracks Luke to the mall. In a standoff, Woods says he was originally planning on returning Luke to the President so he could be a hero and get his job back, but now he wants to kill him instead, blaming Luke for making him lose his job, and even his wife. Woods tries to shoot Simms, but he takes cover and once Woods is out of bullets, Simms brings him down with a right

uppercut The uppercut (formerly known as the undercut) is a punch used in boxing that starts low and travels upwards vertically aiming at the opponent's chin or upper abdomen (so-called " solar plexus"). It is, along with the cross, one of the two main p ...

. As other agents arrive, Woods tries to shoot Luke with a back-up revolver, but Simms jumps in front of Luke, causing him to take the intended bullet in his arm. Woods is also shot, subdued, and arrested by other arriving Secret Service agents for abduction, assault, discharging a firearm in a public place unlawfully, and attempted murder. Simms is offered Presidential duty, which he declines in order to stay with Luke full time. This means he can also spend more time with Luke's biology teacher, with whom he has formed a romantic relationship.

Cast

* Sinbad as Secret Service Agent Sam Simms *

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

as Secret Service Agent Nick Wilkes *

Timothy Busfield Timothy Busfield (born June 12, 1957) is an American actor and director. He played Elliot Weston on the television series '' thirtysomething''; Mark, the brother-in-law of Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), in '' Field of Dreams''; and Danny Concann ...

as Secret Service Agent Woods *

as U.S. First Son Luke Davenport *

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. On television he is best known as astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season television series ''Planet of the Apes''. He won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical ...

as U.S. President Paul Davenport *

Art LaFleur Art LaFleur (September 9, 1943 – November 17, 2021) was an American character actor and acting coach. Life and career LaFleur was born in Gary, Indiana. He played football in 1962 as a redshirt at the University of Kentucky under Coach Charli ...

as Secret Service Agent Morton *

Zachery Ty Bryan Zachery Tyler Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement''. He also appeared in the films '' First Kid'' and '' The Fast and the Furiou ...

as Rob MacArthur * Bill Cobbs as Speet *

Lisa Eichhorn Lisa Eichhorn (born February 4, 1952) is an American actress, writer and producer. She made her film debut in 1979 in the John Schlesinger film ''Yanks'', for which she received two Golden Globe nominations. Her international career has included ...

as U.S. First Lady Linda Davenport * Blake Boyd as Secret Service Agent Dash * Erin Williby as Katie Warren * Michael Krawic as James * Fawn Reed as Susan Lawrence * Tomas Arana as Harold *

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

as himself (Cameo Appearance) * Sean "Oleus" Sullivan as Kid in Shopping Mall Chase *

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

as himself (Cameo Appearance) * Jonathan Cabot Wade as School Kid This film would turn out to be the final on-screen appearance of

before his death in 1998, who, at the time of the film's release, was serving in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

. Bono plays himself as a

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

coming to the White House, to visit the President. Simms bumps into him outside the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

and fawns over him.

Ratings

When ''First Kid'' was rated for video release by the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...

, one minute and thirty one seconds were cut, due to the hostage attack in the shopping mall. At the time, the BBFC felt that this, and the sudden onslaught of violence, were too intense for a 'PG' certificate. In 2002, all cuts were waived for a 'PG' rating.

Reception

Box office

The movie debuted at #3, behind '' The Crow: City of Angels'' and '' Tin Cup''. It did just over $8.4 million in ticket sales on 1,878 screens.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gives the film a score of 20%, based on reviews from 15 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 48% based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.

TV series

In December 1996, following the film's release discussions were held with Disney's TV division about adapting the film's premise as a TV series.

References

External links

* * * {{David M. Evans 1996 films 1996 children's films 1996 comedy films 1990s children's comedy films American children's comedy films American political comedy films Caravan Pictures films Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films about the United States Secret Service Films directed by David Mickey Evans Films produced by Roger Birnbaum Films about bullying Films about dysfunctional families Films scored by Richard Gibbs Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in the White House Films shot in Virginia Walt Disney Pictures films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language political comedy films