nhsgary-1
This movie is a mess. The plot veers around from lame comedy to drama to adulterousness back to cartoonish slapstick. I expected something along the lines of 3 Men and Baby with lots of "men can't handle being a parent" gags. This one is focused almost entirely on the parents (Keaton and Garr), with the kids being peripheral to the story.The blatant product placements became annoying (Lite Beer anyone?) About half way through, one of my family members said what turned out to be what we were all thinking, "This is really bad!"
Predrag
This 1983 comedy is a real gem. No matter what the one star reviews below so ignorantly say. It's definitely one of the best jobs Michael Keaton has ever done. The movie has funny written all over it. It's too bad the people down below have no sense of humor. Keaton stars as Jack Butler, a man who is laid off from his job. As soon as he is, his wife (Teri Garr) decides to go back to work and gets a great job. Poor Jack is now home dealing with all of the normal, everyday things that you usually do. He is raising the kids, doing the dishes, laundry, making dinner. He has even started to watch soaps and hang out the neighborhood ladies. Grocery shopping is a nightmare for him. The review on this page stated that the movie is sexist. Please. People make arguments over something that's not even there. Sigh. This movie has many classic scenes as well as dialogue that you can repeat over and over. The supporting cast includes a number of familiar faces: Martin Mull, Jeffrey Tambor, and Christopher Lloyd. This is a wonderful family comedy that deserves a lot more attention than it got.Funny how things have changed since then. With the poor economy and the changing gender roles in society today, it's not so uncommon to find a man staying at home with the kids. More women are working than ever before, and more than half of the married women are the breadwinners of their families. It might have been a little strange back then, but it's become more commonplace now. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll go back to these simplier times. I see a world of slightly more courtesy in their working worlds, well behaved kids, and little to no dysfunction.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
tbills2
Mr. Mom launches two careers, Michael Keaton's as well as John Hughes'. Mr. Mom was Hughes' first major script and it was Michael Keaton's first major role. Michael's super as Mr. Mom. Michael Keaton starts as Mr. Mom and he goes on to be Johnny Dangerously, Beetlejuice, Batman, Doug, Jack Frost and among many other good parts. John Hughes starts with Mr. Mom and he moves on to write Summer Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Home Alone are just a few of his numerous good films.Michael Keaton is one of my very most favorite actors. He's so funny, and good. I love Michael Keaton! He really does make Mr. Mom a hit. Teri Garr's so good too, and the kids are great. Mr. Mom is a likable comedy adventure and very approving.Mr. Mom makes light at suburbia family home life in a lackadaisical manner. It's lighthearted fun. Mr. Mom is unbound by categorical type restrictions of classification. It's widely amusing. Mr. Mom has a cultured and impetuous personality that's adequate for the viewing. It's kind family fun. Mr. Mom has firm and flexible humor, able to transfer into alternating comedic forms with certainty. It's lovably funny. Mr. Mom invites a relating relationship with the viewer displaying familiarized family issues. It really touches home. There's nothing heavy about Mr. Mom, just a friendly flowing showing.
Mr-Fusion
Despite the overall cute tone and the TV-movie production values, "Mr. Mom" is a blast, thanks primarily to a truly funny lead actor. Writer John Hughes takes the role-reversal premise of an engineer having to stay at home while the wife reenters the workforce, and places it smack in the middle of the early-80s recession (which lends the movie a solid authenticity).Most of the comedy derives from Keaton's earnest portrayal as he navigates the jungles of housewifedom (supermarket chaos, hostile vacuum cleaners and falling into stay-at-home complacency) and seeming ease with being the movie's comedic fulcrum. Hughes' script plumbs the depths of a working man faced with the daunting responsibilities of domesticity for laughs, while colliding the housewife's experience with the the corporate boardroom mentality.Things could easily have slipped into generic chick-flick territory. But Keaton makes all the difference.7/10
AD
