Pretty Good

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

After he's laid off, a husband switches roles with his wife. She returns to the workforce and he becomes a stay-at-home dad - a job he has no clue how to do. Another excellent Michael Keaton film that shows again why he is a great actor full of great laughs but also sweet and romantic Mr.Mom is just awesome my favorite scene has to be the one where the Rocky theme song started playing on the background and he was shaving and doing other things inside the house. I enjoyed it a lot not as much as Multiplicity but it was still a great and amazing movie Keaton will always be in the Top 3 Batman actors no matter what if you haven't seen this film please do you will laugh a lot. Final Rating 10 out of 10.

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.

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

Michael Keaton's star was catapulted to international fame via Ron Howard's hilarious 1982 comedy "Night Shift", in which Keaton played Henry Winkler's annoying, jabber-mouthed morgue partner who just wouldn't shut up. The role won him a legion of fans and he followed the success with a spate of movies of considerably less quality. One of those was Stan Dragoti's "eighties" comedy, "Mr. Mom".The story tells a role swapping tale about new househusband Jack, who finds himself in charge of his home and three feral kids when he loses a bet with his wife. The opportunity for comedy is endless here, and Dragoti does his best to milk it dry. In doing so however, he includes several lame jokes and weak humour."Mr. Mom" has some clever sight gags which in fact make up a high percentage of the intended mirth, but the film loses its way when it begins to swing between comic styles. Slapstick, parody, black comedy and "conventional humour" all get a turn to varying effect. Most of the time Dragoti finds himself flogging a dead horse.Keaton fits the part but is unable to do a thing with it, and the support cast likewise struggle to make an impression. John Hughes' idea is light years better than his resultant script, which perhaps had too limited a scope to really set audiences rolling in the aisles.Sunday, December 4, 1994 - T.V.