Jack and Caroline are a couple making a decent living when Jack suddenly loses his job. They agree that he should stay at home and look after the house while Caroline works. It's just that he's never done it before, and really doesn't have a clue...
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Reviews
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
This movie starts off with a traditional family setup until engineer Jack (Michael Keaton) gets laid off by the car company. Before he could get another job, his wife Caroline (Teri Garr) gets hired by Ron (Martin Mull) for an ad job.This is definitely one of those comedies that suffers from the passing of time. That era is gone especially for the dad side. It's really superficially silly now especially the home and grocery stuff at the beginning. It was probably a little silly back then as well. The mom side of the movie is still good. As he gets more into housewife mode, it gets more realistic. The movie's heart is always in the right place. John Hughes is able to write a very nice light hearted family movie for his first big hit.
First of all, this is a very, very 80's comedy. You can see that by the fact that it stars Teri Garr and a Michael Keaton who looks like he's just graduated from high school. From the opening musical score throughout the rest of the movie, this is the 80's. In the stereotype of the husband who's incapable of taking care of the house and the kids (and, for that matter, of the "house-spouse" who spends most of the time watching soap operas) this is the 80's. Now, that isn't a criticism. It would be rather silly to criticize a movie made in the 80's for being an 80's movie. Of course it's an 80's movie. It's just that this doesn't age all that well. Some movies manage to break out of their era and remain fresh and relevant for decades. This one doesn't.Mr. Mom could be forgiven for its somewhat dated feel if it was funnier. But I really didn't find it to be particularly funny. It has a few moments here and there, but overall I didn't get a whole lot of enjoyment out of this, and too much of the humour was just standard stuff - like dad overloading the washing machine and then putting too much soap in it, or dad heating up the kid's food with a hot iron. Seen it. Many times. In fact, back in the 80's it had been seen many times.Keaton and Garr are both very likable actors. They tried hard - he as the suddenly out of work executive who takes on the role of the house- husband, and she as the newly into the workforce, climbing the corporate ladder ad exec. I didn't really sense much chemistry between them - but they both tried hard. The movie just wasn't that great. (2/10)
Mr. Mom is directed by Stan Dragoti and written by John Hughes. It stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr and Martin Mull. Music is by Lee Holdridge and cinematography by Victor J. Kemper. Plot sees Keaton as Jack Butler, who after being laid off from work, is forced to become as house husband when his wife Caroline (Garr) lands a good job with Schooner Tuna. Something he's really not cut out to do. Ah, well, look, it's obviously very eighties, and thankfully society has moved on in leaps and bounds since this film was released. But good honest comedy is just that, honest, and for those looking for a good chuckle whilst admiring the talent of a pre-Batman Keaton, Mr. Mom is a bad mood lifter. Condensed into the 90 running time are enough gags and fun sequences to fill out a 12 episode sit-com, with a pre-teen-angst trail blazing John Hughes scripting it full of quotable lines. Lines which Keaton delivers with the comic timing not befitting someone just starting out in films.The fun is mined from Jack being hopeless at basic household chores whilst badly tending the three young children at the same time. Enter scenes involving shopping, dropping the kids off at school, laundry, cooking and ironing. As his masculinity starts to wane, Jack starts too slob out and gets his kicks by watching day-time soap operas and playing cards with the neighbourhood women. This coincides with his wife Caroline (Garr adorable) advancing well at work, but paying a price for it by being away from the family home far too much. There's also the looming presence of Caroline's smarmy boss (Martin Mull delightfully sleazy) and the good time girl (Ann Jillian sexing it up) who has her eye on Jack for fun and frolics. Both of these are stereotypes, but they existed then as much as they exist now, with that, it's easy to cut Mr. Mom some slack. Supporting slots fall to Christopher Lloyd (who would re-team with Keaton for the very funny The Dream Team in 1989), Jeffrey Tambor (City Slickers), Graham Jarvis (TV Starsky & Hutch/Cagney & Lacey) and Miriam Flynn (National Lampoon's Vacation). The child actors put in pleasing turns, where they score funny points both visually and orally, and director Dragoti (The Man With One Red Shoe) directs in an unfussy natural way. Ultimately it's Keaton and Hughes' script that lifts it to better comedy heights, the latter of which also plays on some basic fears that arise in the real world. Yeah, it's not just about Jack's bumbling around the home, that John Hughes was a sharp man you know? 7/10
Simple-minded fun is ensured from this charmingly light-hearted suburban family comedy penned by John Hughes, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring the likes of Michael Keaton (after his break through performance in "Night Shift" the year before), Terri Garr and the comic actor Martin Mull. There's just something about "Mr. Mom", while it didn't have me in stitches it seemed to be a pleasant farce which remains quite likable with its repetitive, if accidental gags caught in real life situations (some being over dramatised e.g. the sitcom daydream sequences to enliven the humour) and the daily chores that fill a housewife's cycle. Keaton is a good sport finding him in plenty of red-faced and grinding situations that soon begin to affect his mental state of mind. Keaton balances the right moods in an amusingly bright turn and goes on to prove how well of a versatile actor he was. When the tables are turned for Garr's character that's when she comes out with a wholesomely good performance and a fine show-in by Mull as her smarmy boss. Also in small parts are Jeffrey Tambor and Christopher Lloyd. Stan Dragoti's breezy direction lets it unfold and Hughes gimmicky material is quite snappy with its banter, but satirical with its vision (despite the silly slapstick) without losing any of its warm-hearted appeal.