Themes: Parenthood, Fish Out of Water, Fired or Laid-Off
Main Cast: Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Frederick Koehler, Taliesin Jaffe, Brittany White
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) is a Detroit automobile engineer unjustly fired by his boss. Jack's wife Caroline (Teri Garr) is compelled to get a job to make ends meet, and is soon hired on as an advertising executive in a firm run by the shifty Ron Richardson (Martin Mull. This leaves Jack at home doing the housework and taking care of the kids, which he discovers is a lot more complicated than he ever imagined. Moving from breadwinner to househusband doesn't do much for his self-esteem, and he bides his time playing poker for 10-cents-off coupons with a gaggle of neighborhood housewifes and pondering infidelity with dedicated homewrecker Joan (Ann Jillian). Among Keaton's fish-out-of-water bits: trying to maneuver a shopping cart with the inevitable wobbly wheels; and imagining a soap opera-cum-film noir episode in which he gives in to Joan's advances, only to be found out by Caroline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The gender-role comedy Mr. Mom does a fine job mining fertile comedic territory. In addition to nailing the grand themes of a man forced out of his conventional role of family breadwinner, the screenplay finds lots of cute ways to combine male and female stereotypes. Jack and the other housewives playing poker for coupons is just one witty example. Michael Keaton's performance is one of the keys to the film's success. As he finds himself slipping into more and more feminine roles, the film doesn't get laughs out of a man acting like a woman, it gets laughs out of a man suffering the emotional stress associated with traditional women's roles. Jack is not a sexist pig who learns how hard his unappreciated wife works; he is a good husband and father who learns that raising children and taking care of a house is stressful and demanding. Since Jack is sympathetic throughout, the audience laughs with him in recognition, not at him in derision. That is what makes this family-comedy worth sharing with the family. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Martin Mull - Ron; Ann Jillian - Joan; Jeffrey Tambor - Jinx; Christopher Lloyd - Larry; Thomas Leopold - Stan; Graham Jarvis - Humphries; Michael Alaimo - Bert; Hilary Beane - Exec. #5; Frank Birney - Exec. #4; Gerry Black - Chauffeur; Valri Bromfield - Doris; Jacque Lynn Colton - Card Player #1; Patti Deutsch - Deli Girl; Patty Dworkin - Melon Girl; Michael Ensign - Exec. #2; Miriam Flynn - Annette; Lisa Freeman - Motorhead; Bruce French - Douglass; James Gallery - Bob; Gaye Kruger - Secretary; Dennis Landry - Male Dancer; Robert Lussier - Race Starter; Edie McClurg - Check Out Lady; Derek McGrath - Exec. #1; Danny Mora - Auto Worker; John O'Leary - Norman Young; Ken Olfson - Exec. #3; Estelle Omens - Middle Age Woman; Lisa Richards - Card Player #2; Carolyn Seymour - Eve; Phil Simms - Auto Worker; Maurice Sneed - Auto Worker; Charles Woolf - Phil; Ken Hixon - Director; Bernadette Birkett - Young Woman Shopper; Mandy Ingber - Debbie; Roger Menache - Male Dancer; Tom Rayhall - Higgins
Credit
Harry Colomby - Co-producer, Nolan Miller - Costume Designer, Stan Dragoti - Director, Patrick Kennedy - Editor, Aaron Spelling - Executive Producer, Lee Holdridge - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Sweeney - Production Designer, Victor J. Kemper - Cinematographer, Lynn Loring - Producer, Art Levinson - Producer, Lauren Shuler - Producer, Aaron Spelling - Producer, John Hughes - Screen Story, John Hughes - Screenwriter, Norman Steinberg - Screenwriter, Stephen A. Hope - Music Editor
