MR. MOM (1983)

MR. MOM (1983)

Tagline: Caroline's a rising executive. Jack just lost his job. Jack's going to have to start from the bottom up.

(Comedy, Drama, Raising Arizona on Slightly Less Caffeine) [PG]

But pretty soon, a woobie isn't enough. You're out on the street trying to score an electric blanket, or maybe a quilt. And the next thing you know, you're strung out on bedspreads Ken. That's serious.

In this one, Jack Butler loses his job at a car manufacturing plant, and his wife Caroline ends up having to go back to work. She lands a job and is moving up the ladder, but Jack has a hard time keeping up with their kids and maintaining the motivation he needs to be a great father. On top of that, one of his wife’s friends won’t stop hitting on him. 

When I was growing up there were a few comedies that had to do with families that really kind of blew me away, even at the ages of 7 and 8. This movie and RAISING ARIZONA were two of them. This was the first time Michael Keaton got top billing for a film. His role in this is the stuff of legend and his comedic timing was borderline genius. MR. MOM, JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY, and BEETLEJUICE were all parts of why when he was picked to portray BATMAN in 1989, I almost lost my lunch. He killed it of course and the rest is history. 

Acting wise aside from Michael Keaton, Teri Garr was crushing roles left and right, coming off movies like THE BLACK STALLION and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. She was awesome as Caroline and ended up being my favorite character overall. The movie also featured the likes of Martin Mull, Jeffrey Tambor, and Christopher Lloyd. Ann Jillian gets a bigger role as Joan Hampton and does a solid job with more lines than the 3 actors I just mentioned. There isn’t anyone in this that doesn’t put in a fantastic effort even with the few cringy lines they are given here and there. 

The pacing and soundtrack are awesome. We even get a scene that is an homage to the Rocky series. I really don’t have any complaints here. Where I do kind of wish this movie had done some things differently is in the “male strip club scene”. While for me “every strip club scene” comes across as tacky and a really lame way to cram nudity into movies that really didn’t need it. If you are going for that audience, then don’t have a dad with kids going to a male strip club with chicks. One of which is frequently hitting on him. Instead of being funny, that scene comes across as just really weird. 

Outside of that though, the dream sequence was fine, the other bits of humor are just over-the-top classic 80s awesomeness. This is one of the better movies of the 80s and I don’t think it offends even with today’s sensitivities for the vast majority of its run time. At least it shouldn’t if you have ever tried raising kids, human kids, not dogs or cats or ferrets. Those things can be challenging but having a living breathing human you are responsible for dangles precariously between the daily emotional genres of love, drama, comedy, horror, tragedy, and triumph. Sometimes all in a 30-minute slice of your day.  

MR. MOM gets a 6 out of 7. It’s a barely flawed comedy that holds up well to this day.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SHERWOOD PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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