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Mr. Mom (1983)

post #1 of 27
5/25/10 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Michael Keaton is one of the best people in movies ever, which elevates this from Stupid-Stupid to Fun-Stupid.

What I find worth noting is the loose structure of the film. They don't really make movies like this any more, that are just a series of vignettes based around a single premise. It's light and fun, very similar to Home Alone, actually.
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post #2 of 27
5/25/10 at 1:36pm
Both films written by John Hughes. Its a good movie that sags a bit in the 3rd act but man Keaton was on a roll by this stage.
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post #3 of 27
5/25/10 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
Both films written by John Hughes.
Yeah, that's why I made the comparison. This, Home Alone and Vacation are the only two John Hughes movies I enjoy and they all share this kind of loose structure. Though I saw Home Alone so many times as a kid, I doubt my ability to be objective about it.
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post #4 of 27
5/25/10 at 1:46pm
It's a really great sitcom-as-film movie; performances are aces, and it gives us an emotional stake without getting heavy or depressing. It's also very much of its time period.

Thanks to my ex's love of this movie, I've incorporated a lot of its lines into real life:

"220, 221, whatever it takes."

"Thanks for the tip, Annette."

"You want talk about the beard? We'll talk about the beard."

"We have people to do that."
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post #5 of 27
5/25/10 at 10:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelM View Post
It's a really great sitcom-as-film movie; performances are aces, and it gives us an emotional stake without getting heavy or depressing. It's also very much of its time period.

Thanks to my ex's love of this movie, I've incorporated a lot of its lines into real life:

"220, 221, whatever it takes."

"Thanks for the tip, Annette."

"You want talk about the beard? We'll talk about the beard."

"We have people to do that."
"...and I hear champagne chilling in the background!"
"You heard that?"
"AHA!"


"Are these any good?"
"Um...ya got a pair...you got plenty."

"Are you a bum now, Daddy?"
"No, but I'm workin' on it"

Sitcom-as-film gets it about right; I think it strikes a nice balance - Keaton was/is terrific, he needs to get out of actor jail. Believable chemistry between him and Garr. The kids are cute but the film doesn't smack you between the eyes with it every chance it gets.

Just a nice, solid little movie.
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post #6 of 27
5/25/10 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
Keaton was/is terrific, he needs to get out of actor jail.
I'm actually pretty confused on how he ended up in there. Was it the snowman movie?
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post #7 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:06pm
Thread Starter 
He's doing a voice in Toy Story 3, he's in The Other Guys. I was always under the impression that he was taking a purposeful leave of absence, to spend time with his kids (apropos!) or whatever.
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post #8 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:08pm
He was pretty great as James Jesus Angleton in that TNT miniseries a while back. And he was almost Jack on Lost!
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post #9 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
Yeah, that's why I made the comparison. This, Home Alone and Vacation are the only two John Hughes movies I enjoy...
What? No love for Planes, Trains and Automobiles? The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles?
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post #10 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
And Jack Sparrow!

Come to think of it, the "Jack Sparrow" type role sort of originated with Beetlejuice.
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post #11 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:19pm
I didn't know that he was almost Jack Sparrow, but he and Walken were the two choices I liked best out of the rumored Wonka candidates.

Also, I'll join you in the "I like two John Hughes movies" club, Patrick.
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post #12 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
What? No love for Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Not bad but really cheesy and overrated. I went in expecting something great (from various reccomendations), and it was barely adequate. Though, looking back, it's almost certainly AS good as Mr. Mom, if not better. Maybe a second viewing will help adjust my opinion of it.
Quote:
Sixteen Candles?
Haven't seen it but if it's anything like Pretty in Pink, it's shit.

Quote:
Breakfast Club
Pure shit. Nothing redeeming about it.

Also, I lost a bet with my friend (I bet Tarantino would win best director at the Oscars) so now I have to watch Some Kind of Wonderful. Maybe I'll like it. But I probably won't.
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post #13 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:27pm
What about Curly Sue, Patrick?

(Also, I think Breakfast Club is one of those "you had to be there" movies. Me, I just think of Judd Nelson's 'serious monologue' and laugh. Although the Hughes movies did give us that cool video for Lizstomania!, so there's that.)
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post #14 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:35pm
I've loved Mr. Mom for a really long time. It's such a nice movie, and as Michael pointed out, it gets emotional, but not heavy handed. The reasons for why he loves his wife are great.

I've also always thought that Michael Keaton just never wanted to become a huge star. He just wanted to continue acting.
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post #15 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeI View Post
I'm actually pretty confused on how he ended up in there. Was it the snowman movie?
I think we're forgetting that the only way to survive as a leading man in Hollywood is to either be a profitable asset or be someone who a significant number of fat housewives jerk off to in between Oprah and ET viewings. Nobody's going to argue Keaton is pinup material and he bailed on the one franchise he got in his career. His decline in Hollywood is pretty much a thing of his own making.
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post #16 of 27
5/25/10 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
(Also, I think Breakfast Club is one of those "you had to be there" movies. Me, I just think of Judd Nelson's 'serious monologue' and laugh. Although the Hughes movies did give us that cool video for Lizstomania!, so there's that.)
I agree, so I don't fault people for liking what they like. I grew up watching Batman (1989) (speaking of Keaton!), and it's one of my favorite movies of all time, despite every flaw that's been pointed out to me over the years. If you can't be objective about a movie, that's fine. I just don't like when people can't realize they can't be objective and try to defend their opinions of these childhood favorites as sacred cows.
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post #17 of 27
5/26/10 at 4:16am
I didn't bring up Pretty In Pink. The films I did mention I thought worked as films. Nostalgia is a different deal.

I don't remember Judd Nelson having a serious monologue either Anthony Michael Hall on the other hand anyways.

I think Keaton became a lead actor a little late in life and has aged. I remember seeing Jackie Brown in the theater and was amazed at how old he looked even then.
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post #18 of 27
5/26/10 at 4:46am
Keaton's fun to watch in MULTIPLICITY too.

But I love this moment in MR. MOM:

"My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines! Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows .... and I'm liking 'em!"

Keaton delivered the goods in that movie.
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post #19 of 27
5/26/10 at 4:55am
Hecks yeah! I love this movie. Mr. Mom is up there with other Keaton greats such as Night Shift and The Dream Team.
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post #20 of 27
5/26/10 at 4:58am
I'm a fan of both those films as well. Keaton was really good with comedy. One film of his that never really worked was The Squeeze though.
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post #21 of 27
5/26/10 at 2:58pm
My mother adores this movie and relates a lot to it. She loves the scene where he drops the kids off at Elementary School and gets a lecture on the right way to do it, because she had to go through that when I was young.
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post #22 of 27
5/26/10 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
Not bad but really cheesy and overrated. I went in expecting something great (from various reccomendations), and it was barely adequate. Though, looking back, it's almost certainly AS good as Mr. Mom, if not better. Maybe a second viewing will help adjust my opinion of it.

Haven't seen it but if it's anything like Pretty in Pink, it's shit.


Pure shit. Nothing redeeming about it.

Also, I lost a bet with my friend (I bet Tarantino would win best director at the Oscars) so now I have to watch Some Kind of Wonderful. Maybe I'll like it. But I probably won't.
Sixteen Candles is pretty funny. My favorite, and its an un-popular opinion around these parts, is Ferris Bueller.
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post #23 of 27
5/26/10 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuchulain View Post
I think we're forgetting that the only way to survive as a leading man in Hollywood is to either be a profitable asset or be someone who a significant number of fat housewives jerk off to in between Oprah and ET viewings. Nobody's going to argue Keaton is pinup material and he bailed on the one franchise he got in his career. His decline in Hollywood is pretty much a thing of his own making.
What the fuck are you talking about?

Keaton's done a lot of good work in his career. Batman? Did you SEE Batman Forever? "I was waiting in line for another movie and just kind of poked my head in... watched about 10 minutes. I saw enough to know that I made the right decision."- Keaton

Decline? What decline. The only decline is the amount of movies he does and I'm pretty sure that's more by choice. Any crappy movie he did, he was the better part of them.

You wanna talk decline, talk about Eddie Murphy.
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post #24 of 27
5/27/10 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
And Jack Sparrow!

Come to think of it, the "Jack Sparrow" type role sort of originated with Beetlejuice.
He did what woulda/coulda been a Sparrow precursor in Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing as well.
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post #25 of 27
5/31/10 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
Though I saw Home Alone so many times as a kid, I doubt my ability to be objective about it.
That's me, all over.
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post #26 of 27
6/1/10 at 11:42am
Sixteen Candles is a great movie, and it has tits in it.

Love Mr. Mom. Very close to being my favorite Keaton movie. The fight with the vacuum cleaner was great, and I never get tired of seeing his reaction to the noodles after he drops them in the pan. And I had a huge crush on Teri Garr.

"You want a beer?"
"It's 7 o'clock in the morning."
"...Scotch?"

And something I've almost said verbatim to someone before:

"You talk to my kid like that again, and I'm knockin' you out."
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post #27 of 27
6/5/10 at 9:17pm
I'm no fan of The Breakfast Club either. I can easily suspend my disbelief watching Godzilla movies, but I can't do it with the Breakfast Club. Those kids would hate each other more if they spent an entire day together.

The message of Pretty in Pink: its good to be a gold digger.
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