- Mr. Mom
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For the Lonestar song, see Mr. Mom (Lonestar song).
Mr. Mom 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Stan Dragoti Produced by Lynn Loring
Lauren Shuler Donner
Aaron SpellingWritten by John Hughes Starring Michael Keaton
Teri Garr
Jeffrey Tambor
Christopher Lloyd
Martin MullMusic by Lee Holdridge Cinematography Victor J. Kemper Editing by Patrick Kennedy Distributed by 20th Century Fox (Original release)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Current owner)Release date(s) July 22, 1983 (limited)
August 19, 1983 (wide)Running time 91 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $64,783,827 Mr. Mom is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by John Hughes about a stay-at-home dad. The film stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, and Martin Mull.
Contents
Plot
Michael Keaton and Teri Garr play Jack and Caroline Butler, a middle class couple with three kids - Kenny, Alex, and Megan - living in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan during the Early 1980s recession. Jack is the breadwinner while Caroline is a stay-at-home mom. He and his two friends, Larry and Stan, lose their engineering jobs at an automobile manufacturer. Though the auto industry is in a slump, they bet that he can get a job before Caroline, but he loses as she is hired by an ad agency and he has to stay at home with the kids.
With Caroline at work, Jack discovers he is clueless about how to manage a household. He falls into depression as his ego and the household fall apart, most infamously fighting with the vacuum cleaner, which was nicknamed "Jaws" by Caroline, while Alex gives Megan a can of chili unbeknownst to him, and when she eats the whole thing, the inevitable happens.
He begins socializing a lot with the housewives in his neighborhood, sharing poker games and workout routines with them. Caroline struggles with being back in the workforce and successfully pitches an innovative idea to a hard-to-please client. The president of the company is pleased and wants her to fly to Los Angeles to help shoot the commercial.
In the meantime, Jack has snapped out of his depression, getting the house and kids under control. His former employer invites him back for a chance to interview again for his old job, but he finds that his former boss, Jinx Latham (Jeffrey Tambor), betrayed his reputation in favor of his own so as to make himself look good in the process. He lectures them on such dirty practices and storms out, but not before threatening Jinx with a knockout punch should he ever speak sharply to Alex again (who had interrupted the meeting to see what was taking so long). The neighborhood housewives surprise him unpleasantly with a visit to a strip club (with male strippers) to take his mind off of things.
Throughout the film, both Jack and Caroline find themselves fending off the lascivious advances of others. Her boss, Ron Richardson (Martin Mull), tries to convince her to leave Jack and marry him instead, while in his case, one of their mutual friends, Joan (Ann Jillian), tries to seduce him in a less direct manner.
Caroline leaves her family on Halloween to go on a business trip. After a successful commercial shoot in Los Angeles, she relaxes in her hotel bathtub; Ron takes this opportunity to sneak into her room with champagne. Back home, Jack tries calling her at this exact moment so the kids could talk to her, but Ron picks up the phone instead. He hangs up, therefore Jack is thinking she is having an affair with him. She, not knowing what has just transpired via the phone, confronts him and fends off his attempts to seduce her; she ends up punching him in the nose and quitting her job.
The next day dawns with a couple of household repair people in the home to fix a broken TV and spray for bugs. Joan stops by and while Jack is upstairs in the bathroom. She makes herself at home in their bedroom. Realizing that she wants to sleep with him, Jack begins running through a list of reasons (numbered A-Z) why he should not have an affair with her. Caroline arrives home unexpectedly, surprising Joan on the bed, and after a confrontation of words, she leaves. Caroline takes her place on the bed. Jack, not realizing she is home, comes back to the bedroom. They talk over the misunderstandings that occurred concerning Ron and Joan's advances and reunite as a stronger couple.
Ron stops by the house, begging her to come back to his company, as the client has demanded that only she can properly handle his account. However, she expresses how much she missed spending time with her children. Jinx also comes begging for Jack to return to work. He had made too many cuts in his design team and is now in danger of losing his job. Alex says something to his father while Jinx is talking and he yells at him, at which point Jack makes good on his earlier promise and punches him in the face. Jack accepts his old job back with the demand being accepted that Larry and Stan will have theirs back.
As Jack and Caroline are sitting on the steps inside the home with the kids, with Jinx and Ron in the background talking with the TV repairwoman and exterminator, they are again a happy family. On the newly repaired TV, the viewer sees the commercial Caroline helped produce.
Cast
- Michael Keaton as Jack Butler
- Teri Garr as Caroline Butler
- Jeffrey Tambor as Jinx Latham
- Christopher Lloyd as Larry
- Martin Mull as Ron Richardson
- Taliesin Jaffe as Kenny Butler
- Frederick Koehler as Alex Butler
- Courtney and Brittany White as Megan Butler
- Graham Jarvis as Humphries
- Miriam Flynn as Annette
- Ann Jillian as Joan
- Edie McClurg as Checkout lady
- Patti Deutsch as Deli girl
Reception
Critical reception
The film received mixed to positive reviews. Leonard Maltin gave it 2.5 stars out of 4, stating "pleasant enough rehash of age-old sitcom premise," adding "likable stars make it palatable, but you've seen it all before."[1]
Box office
Mr. Mom opened to limited release on July 22, 1983 with $947,197, earning the #13 spot that weekend.[2] Upon its wide release on August 19, 1983, a month later, the film opened #3 with $4,279,384 behind Easy Money's opening weekend and Risky Business' third.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Martin, Leonard (2006). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. Signet Books. pp. 879. ISBN 0-451-21265-7.
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1983&wknd=29&p=.htm
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1983&wknd=33&p=.htm
External links
- Mr. Mom at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. Mom at AllRovi
- Mr. Mom at Box Office Mojo
- Mr. Mom at Rotten Tomatoes
Films directed by Stan Dragoti 1970s Dirty Little Billy (1972) · Love at First Bite (1979)1980s 1990s Necessary Roughness (1991)John Hughes Director
and writerSixteen Candles (1984) • The Breakfast Club (1985) • Weird Science (1985) • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) • Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) • She's Having a Baby (1988) • Uncle Buck (1989) • Curly Sue (1991)Writer National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982) • Mr. Mom (1983) • National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) • Nate and Hayes (1983) • National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) • Pretty in Pink (1986) • Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) • The Great Outdoors (1988) • National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) • Home Alone (1990) • Career Opportunities (1991) • Dutch (1991) • Beethoven (1992) • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) • Dennis the Menace (1993) • Baby's Day Out (1994) • Miracle on 34th Street (1994) • 101 Dalmatians (1996) • Flubber (1997) • Home Alone 3 (1997) • Reach the Rock (1998) • Just Visiting (2001) • Maid in Manhattan (2002) • Drillbit Taylor (2008)Categories:- 1983 films
- American films
- English-language films
- 1980s comedy-drama films
- American comedy-drama films
- American independent films
- Films shot in Metrocolor
- 20th Century Fox films
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