Twins (1988 film)

Plot

Julius and Vincent Benedict are fraternal twins, the results of a secret experiment carried out at a genetics laboratory to produce the perfect child. To the surprise of the scientists, the embryo split and twins were born. 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 while Julius was taken to a South Pacific island and raised by Professor Werner. On Julius' 35th birthday, Werner tells him that he has a twin brother.[1] Julius leaves the island to find him. In Los Angeles, with no one but himself to rely on, Vincent escaped from the orphanage.

Julius discovers Vincent lives in LA, so travels throughout the city. Though intelligent, he is extremely naïve about the real world his more streetwise brother inhabits; at one point he inadvertently foils an attempt by two thieves to mug him. He finds Vincent in jail. Vincent is scornful when Julius tells him they are twins, but lets him bail him out and then drives off.

Julius tracks Vincent to his workplace, where he is being beaten by one of the Klane brothers for the unpaid debt. Julius overpowers Morris, earning Vincent's respect and trust. He meets Vincent's on-again-off-again girlfriend, Linda Mason. Knowing little about women, Julius is oblivious to the flirtatious advances of her blond sister Marnie, who dislikes Vincent, but eventually falls in love with her. 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.

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 an industrialist in Houston for $5 million. He decides to deliver it himself and collect the money. Webster, the original delivery man, begins ruthlessly searching for the person who stole the prototype.

At Julius' insistence, the two couples go on a cross-country journey to track Traven down. They eventually find him in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and he tells them that their mother is living in an art colony near Santa Fe. The Klane brothers find them again, with the intent of killing Vincent, but Julius and Vincent fight them off for the last time.

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. 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 the industrialist, 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 Beetroot 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 who gets killed getting buried in chains. 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, using Julius' knowledge and Vincent's questionable business savvy. The twins stay with the Mason sisters, each couple producing a pair of twins. The closing shows the two families out with grandmother Mary Ann.

Cast

• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Julius Benedict, Vincent's older fraternal twin brother.
• Danny DeVito as Vincent Benedict, Julius's younger fraternal twin brother.
• Kelly Preston as Marnie Mason, Linda's sister and Julius's girlfriend.
• Chloe Webb as Linda Mason, Marnie's sister and Vincent's girlfriend.
• Bonnie Bartlett as Maryanne Benedict, the twins' biological mother.
  • Heather Graham as young Maryanne Benedict (uncredited)
• Trey Wilson as Beetroot McKinley.
• Marshall Bell as Webster, the hitman.
• David Caruso as Al Greco, a friend of Vincent's.
• Hugh O'Brian as Granger, one of the twins' six fathers.
• Nehemiah Persoff as Dr. Mitchell Traven, one of the scientists from the experiment that created Julius and Vincent.
• Maury Chaykin as Burt Klane, Bob and Morris's brother.
• Tony Jay as Professor Werner, one of the scientists from the experiment that created Julius and Vincent who raised Julius.
• Tom McCleister as Bob Klane, Burt and Morris's brother.
• David Efron as Morris Klane, Burt and Bob's brother.
• Sven-Ole Thorsen as Sam Klane, Burt, Bob, and Morris's cousin and Dave's brother or cousin.
• Gus Rethwisch as Dave Klane, Burt, Bob, and Morris's cousin and Sam's brother or cousin.
• Richard Portnow as Tony
• Robert Harper as Gilbert Larsen
• Jason Reitman as Granger Grandson
• Catherine Reitman as Granger Granddaughter

Production

The original music score was composed by Georges Delerue and Randy Edelman. Edelman has scored three more films for director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters II; Kindergarten Cop; and Six Days, Seven Nights) whereas this was Delerue's only work for him.

Notably, this was Arnold Schwarzenegger's first time starring in a major comedy. Because Universal Pictures viewed this as a significant risk compared with having Schwarzenegger make another profitable action film, Schwarzenegger voluntarily took no salary in exchange for a share of the film's profits. Co-star Danny DeVito and director Reitman made similar deals. When the film was a major financial success – box office of $216 million against an $18 million production budget – the three together earned a significant share of the overall profits. In a 2016 interview with Graham Bensinger, Schwarzenegger stated that the decision to "invest in myself" by trying comedy and forgoing the salary in exchange for a share of the film's profits was one of the best decisions of his entire life. He also told Andy Cohen in 2025 that Twins made him the most money of any film in his career .

Filming

Many of the outdoor scenes were filmed in northern New Mexico. Locations and backgrounds included 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.

Music

Soundtrack

The film's

• title theme song
  • Performed by Philip Bailey and Little Richard, reached No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989.
• Yakety Yak
  • Performed by 2 Live Crew with The Coasters
• Brother to Brother
  • Performed by The Spinners
• I'd Die for This Dance
  • Performed by Nicolette Larson Jeff Beck Terry Bozzio Tony Hymas
• Turtle Shoes
  • Performed and Written by Bobby McFerrin Herbie Hancock
• It's Too Late
  • Performed by Nayobe
• Green Onions
  • Performed by Jeff Beck Terry Bozzio Tony Hymas Peter Richardson
• The Stumble
  • Performed by Jeff Beck, Terry Bozzio, Tony Hymas and Peter Richardson
• The Train Kept A-Rollin'
  • Performed by Jeff Beck, Tony Hymas and Peter Richardson
• I Only Have Eyes for You
  • Performed by Marilyn Scott

Reception

Box office

The film was a commercial success, opening as the number one film in the United States earning $11 million on its opening weekend. It retained the top spot for the next two weekends and went on to gross $112 million domestically, being the fifth biggest grossing film in the United States released in 1988. The film was released in the United Kingdom on March 17, 1989, and topped the country's box office that weekend. It grossed $216 million worldwide.

Following the film's success, Reitman and Schwarzenegger teamed up again for Kindergarten Cop (1990) and then again for Junior (1994), which also starred DeVito.

Critical response

Twins received mixed reviews from critics upon release. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 43% approval rating based on 44 reviews. 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." On Metacritic the film has a score of 53 out of 100 based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "engaging entertainment with some big laughs and a sort of warm goofiness".

Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave the film a negative review: "In Twins, which is supposed to be funny, the former Mr. Universe and pint-sized Danny DeVito play twins, the result of a genetic experiment that went awry. To the extent that Twins is carried by anybody, it is carried by Mr.DeVito; Mr.Schwarzenegger is dead weight."

Cancelled sequel

In March 2012, Universal announced the development of a sequel titled Triplets with Schwarzenegger and DeVito due to return with Eddie Murphy as their long lost triplet brother. Reitman was set to co produce.

In April 2015, it was announced that plans for the film were put on hold. In March 2018, Schwarzenegger confirmed that the script for Triplets was finished and that Murphy was officially attached to the film. Schwarzenegger briefly discussed how Murphy's character became the triplet brother of his and DeVito's characters saying "funny thing that happens in the mixing of the sperm". It was unknown if Reitman would still be involved in the film, as originally announced in 2012.

In September 2021, it was announced filming will commence in January 2022 in Boston, with Ivan Reitman directing, Schwarzenegger and DeVito reprising their roles as Julius and Vincent Benedict, and Tracy Morgan replacing Eddie Murphy as Schwarzenegger and DeVito's long lost triplet brother. However, Reitman died in February 2022, leaving the status of the film unclear. In May 2023, Schwarzenegger confirmed that a sequel would not be made, as Reitman's son Jason put the idea to an end following his father's death.

References

References

1. (December 12, 1988). "''TWINS'' (PG)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
2. "Schwarzenegger Interview – Interview/Podcast". nerdist.com.
3. "Twins".
4. "Schwarzenegger Interview – Interview/Podcast (starting at 42 min)". nerdist.com.
5. In Depth – Graham Bensinger. Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger. September 14, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHL_UXfWT44
6. "Little Richard | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company".
7. "1988 domestic grosses".
8. "Weekend box office 17th March 1989 – 19th March 1989". www.25thframe.co.uk.
9. Ebert, Roger. (November 23, 1994). "Junior Movie Review". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
10. "Twins".
11. "Twins".
12. "TWINS (1988) A-". [[CinemaScore]].
13. Ebert, Roger. (December 9, 1988). "Twins Movie Review". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
14. Canby, Vincent. (9 December 1988). "Review/Film; Long-Lost Twin Brothers: Beauty and the Beast (Published 1988)". [[The New York Times]].
15. Kit, Borys. (March 29, 2012). "'Twins' Sequel 'Triplets' in the Works for Arnold, DeVito...and Eddie Murphy (Exclusive)". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
16. "RedCarpetNewsTV:Arnold Schwarzenegger Confirms Terminator 5, Conan and Twins Sequels".
17. Kit, Borys. (March 11, 2018). "Triplets: Arnold Schwarzenegger Confirms Eddie Murphy, Script is Finished". [[Screen Rant]].
18. (September 14, 2021). "'Twins' Sequel 'Triplets' Set: Tracy Morgan Joins Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito & Director Ivan Reitman In Hot Toronto Package".
19. (March 8, 2022). "Arnold Schwarzenegger Provides a Sombre Update on the Twins Sequel, Triplets".
20. Travis, Emlyn. (May 16, 2023). "Arnold Schwarzenegger says his ''Twins'' sequel is dead: 'Jason Reitman f---ed it up!'".