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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 6045
Released: April 25, 2000 |
| Our Price: $4.48 |
| Used Price: $1.85 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Funnyman Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice) teams with Teri Garr (Tootsie in this "fresh and funny audience pleaser" (Boxoffice) that's all housework and no pay! Jack and Caroline Butler (Keaton and Garr) are perfectly happy with their roles in life until a layoff makes him a househusband and her a working wife! And while she wrangles with charts, graphs and an all-too-eager-to-be-wrangled boss, he has to contend with their hyper kids, a ravenous vacuum cleaner, an angry washing machine and an oversexed neighbor (Ann Jillian of TV's "It's A Living")! From late nights in the boardroom to lonely nights in the bedroom, the biggest challenge for both Jack and Caroline is learning to trust one another with their reversed roles which they'd better do quickly before Mr. Mom becomes Mr. Single Mom!
Description of Mr. Mom:
When Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) loses his job at an auto factory, he expects to quickly find another. But instead, his wife Caroline (Teri Garr) starts working for an ad agency and Jack ends up taking care of the house and kids. He soon runs afoul of shopping etiquette, a voracious vacuum cleaner, and he can't even drop his kids off at school properly. He starts losing his pride and letting himself go. He stops shaving, drinks at all hours, and watches soap operas. And not only does a predatory divorcée (Ann Jillian) have her eye on him, Caroline's new boss (Martin Mull) has more than business on his mind. Will their marriage survive? What makes Mr. Mom work isn't its role-reversal premise, but its clever off-the-main-plot scenes like the obstacle course at the company picnic, where a footrace with swim fins is set to a variation on the theme to Chariots of Fire; a poker game using discount coupons for money; or a traumatic, soap-opera-influenced dream Jack has when he realizes his life is going down the toilet. This is the first starring role for Michael Keaton, who went on to star in Beetlejuice and Batman; he makes the most of both its comic and sentimental side. The script, incidentally, is written by John Hughes, who later went on to write and direct The Breakfast Club and Home Alone. --Bret Fetzer
Mr. Mom Reviews:
Classic Movie 
2009-11-08 - This movie is a classic with Michael Keaton who plays a mommy role b/c wife is going back to work versus him going after he was laid off. It is hilarious in many different ways for he seems to always be doing it wrong!
Mr-Mom - Michael Keaton - Funny
2009-09-27 - I always get a laugh out of his movie.Michael Keaton gets fired from his job so his wife has to go to work.Makes me wonder why he couldn't find another job.It gets realy funny when he has to look after the children.I always remember when he started watching thos silly daytime soapies,at first he said what a load of rubbish,next thing he's so involved with them,and i find that amusing.Lots of funny moments in this movie.
I love the 80's! 
2009-09-08 - This movie is just another classic that represents how wonderful movies were back in the 1980's. A good simple family comedy without getting too tasteless with sexual innuendos and exploiting our common vices and weaknesses. Jack's a good family man and he loves his wife, and she loves and respects him too. Michael Keaton was great for this role because he does exhume a behavior of a loving family man who wants the best for his family. Of course, I've always enjoyed movies with Teri Garr as either a supportive wife or a great caring mother. Teri Garr was great in "The Black Stallion" and in "Oh God!" as John Denver's wife.
It's interesting how accurate it is about how the auto industry was going through changes and that job lay-offs are eminent even back in the eighties before mass global industry started to kill off American jobs.
Anyway, as a comedy, I can relate to how difficult it is for a man to enter the commonly recognized 'woman's world' of daytime television and running a household of various chores. It is so easy for a man to take for granted of what a homemaker goes through while we men are busting our butts out in the cold working world of sales and industry. Imagine how hard it is for a woman to take care of the house, AND have a job too. Guys! Our wives need our help! It's not so easy these days.
And, of course, you'll even see a little sexism in how some corporate giant can think he can persuade an attractive married woman to give up her family just for more money and status. Martin Mull played a perfect slime ball in this film. He thought that his high corporate status would be more influential to persuade and charm a woman than that of his own natural character.
I'd give this movie a five star rating if they ever re-release it in widescreen (not simulated widescreen by cutting off the top and bottom of the already chopped up fullscreen version like some re-releases have done).
Movies like "Mr. Mom" are great Saturday afternoon entertainment that you can watch with your kids. I miss good family entertainment like this. Another great 80's comedy that I'd like to recommend with Michael Keaton is "Johnny Dangerously."
Yes, I love the 80's!
Mr Mom
2009-03-02 - Great movie for our time, Lots of men share the duties of raising the kids. Funny movie.
A good no-nonsense movie!
2009-02-23 - Even after all these years this is STILL a decent movie! It has not worn real well with time as some have, but is enjoyable. It's not rocket science, it's a fun movie about a guy who's lost his job, and now depends on his wife to be the money maker. A role reversal movie. Yes, times now are not what they were back then. And the stay at home mom is rarer & rarer. But the jokes are still funny. And while some have called this an insult to both sexes, it also showcases in the end that the power of love conqers all! A rarity in this day and age sometimes it seems.
