Mr. Mom

For March, I will dedicate it to one of the greatest directors of all time, John Hughes. Let’s get this month started with the 1987 classic, “Mr. Mom.”

Francis Rizzo III started his review by saying, “Everything old is new again, be it the fear of nuclear war or the looming spectre of economic disaster.” An 80s comedy like “Mr. Mom” remains very relevant. Jack (Michael Keaton) has been furloughed from his job as an engineer with a car company and, as he hasn’t been able to find a job, his wife Caroline (Teri Garr) finds a job in an advertising company, leaving Jack to be a stay-at-home dad to look after their three children (Frederick Koehler, Taliesin Jaffe, and Courtney & Brittany White). In a less rational time (and in the hands of one of the great writers John Hughes), this is a huge challenge for Jack and a threat to his masculinity and his marriage (thanks, partly, to the awkward pursuit of local promiscuous Joan, played by Ann Jillian).

Rizzo said, “Surprisingly, the film doesn't take the easy "dumb dad" route of making it just about how manly Jack can't cope with "women's work", even though he does struggle with simple tasks like diaper changing and meal prep, as Hughes' script includes several scenes of near-cartoonish coordinated chaos to intimate that a homemaker's life is not an easy one.” Caroline has her problems, like being a newly returned mom who is disrespected by her co-workers (despite having a college degree and experience in the field) and being an attractive woman makes her the target of her harassing boss, played by Leon Carp from “Roseanne,” Willard Kraft from “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” Vlad from “Danny Phantom,” and Gene Parmesan from “Arrested Development,” Martin Mull. However, as she begins to succeed at her job and Jack settles into domesticity, their changed positions lead to new issues in their relationship (including some gender-swapped takes on classic marriage tropes, like the idea of letting yourself go.)

There’s not a clear plot to “Mr. Mom” that gets the film from beginning to end, but the details of Jack’s lost job (featuring Jeffrey Tambor as a by-the-books boss) and the potential for Joan to break up Jack and Caroline’s marriage are often-present to create drama and a sense that things are moving forward. (Why a single woman like Joan would be so insistent on an affair with a guy who can’t find a job and doesn’t have his life together is a mystery the film doesn’t try to solve.) Rizzo noted, “At one point, a lengthy fantasy scene crops up (with some legitimately funny beats), but it serves mainly to point out how aimless the film is at many points. Yes, Caroline has a big project at work, but that only really sets up the possibility for more harassment from Ron, but Jack's journey and, for lack of a better word, redemption, lacks in motivation and agency. The whole film builds to a humorously disorderly moment that only feels like a payoff because it arrives about 90 minutes after the film started.”

Despite not having a real story (and instead stuck in small moments of domestic life and “What if mom was a dad?” jokes like playing poker for coupons), “Mr. Mom” is driven by performances, led by Keaton (in his first feature lead) and Garr. Rizzo credited, “It would be hard to pair two better, more underrated actors than this duo, with Keaton putting his trademark mix of humor and unhinged insanity on proper display (getting darker than you'd expect at points for a comedy), and Garr reminding us why she is always a delight to watch at work, nevering having to try too hard to earn a laugh.” They are supported by a lot of quality performances, including some enjoyably cute child actors (Koehler and Jaffe) as the couple’s boys, Miriam Flynn as a nosy neighbor, and Christopher Lloyd and Tom Leopold in a fun, small part (along with cameos by Edie McClurg and Pattie Deutsch).

Rizzo noted, “Director Stan Dragoti made several solid comedies between 1979 and 1991, working well with likable stars like Keaton and Garr (as he did with Tom Hanks and Scott Bakula), but the visual flair he hints at here in small doses wouldn't really come to the forefront until his next film, The Man with One Red Shoe.” The film moves well through Hughes’ brand of dynamic comedy but still hits a few brief moments of depth. There’s just not a lot of self-reflection on Jack’s part (as Hughes was still a few years away from his best works of suburban therapy). Rizzo said, “Some sort of through-line that gave Jack more agency could have made Mr. Mom a more cohesive film, but as it is, it's an opportunity to enjoy Keaton and Garr in a lighthearted, if unspectacular comedy.”

There’s nothing that makes “Mr. Mom” stand out in a crowd of 80s comedies, except for the performances of Keaton and Garr, but that’s honestly enough to make it worth watching, as they are both enjoyable to watch, and the movie has enough going on to never stall, even if it’s never really going anywhere.

I had always said I would watch this film, but I never got around to it until a while ago. Now that I have finally seen it, I can say that this film is worth seeing. Check it out if you haven’t because this is nice to see Michael Keaton before he did the darker roles in the years following this film. Especially since this was made at a time when fathers were not seen as stay-at-home parents, but now we can see them as that, even though stay-at-home parents are not as common as they used to be.

Sorry for the late posting. I was tired coming back from work then I was called for a couple of tasks. Stay tuned next week for the next installment of “John Hughes Month.”