Mr. Mom (1983)

Variety
"...Garr, as always, is a delight to watch..." 07/20/1983

Find-A-Video 7 of 10
Written by John Hughes, this amiable comedy stars Michael Keaton as a brand new househusband who must contend with housework and wife Teri Garr working 9 to 5... Keaton's comic finesse makes most of this familiar territory seem fresh.
 
At-A-Glance Film Reviews 7 of 10
Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) loses his job, while wife Caroline (Teri Garr) is faced with a potentially profitable business opportunity... It's formula comedy made amusing by its amicable cast.
 
DVD Times 5 of 10
The credits which open Mr. Mom offer a heady mix of the good, the bad and ugly. Of course, not everyone will agree as to who fits where so let's just say that Aaron Spelling serves as producer, John Hughes as writer, Michael Keaton the lead and Stan Dragoti (whose career shifted steadily downhill from Dirty Little Billy to the unbearable ordeals of She's Out of Control and Necessary Roughness) as director. Whichever way you take these names what is clear is the fact that Mr. Mom is one of those "male mother" pictures which proved so popular in the eighties (Three Men and a Baby being the key title), though we seem to be living through a belated revival albeit with a single parent twist (Daddy Day Care, Are We There Yet?). Having been made in 1983, this particular venture happens to be somewhat simpler, as can be seen from the setup...Yet whilst it is Hughes' screenplay which contains many of the film's faults, his contribution also provides some of its most enjoyable moments. Retrospectively, Mr. Mom has a charm and innocence that would unlikely be present in a more recent incarnation; the gross out quotient is minimal, with the sole scatological gag being, predictably, a nappy changing one, whilst Keaton can do this kind of role effortlessly and amiably (sadly, Christopher Lloyd and Jeffrey Tambor, both of whom provide equally likeable support, are give too few onscreen minutes). Moreover, when Hughes isn't indulging himself in the crushingly familiar he does come up with some nice moments. The gathering of mothers playing poker for shopping vouchers is an inventive touch, whilst Keaton's increasing addiction to soap operas even contains a few germs of satire. Sadly, it's the case that the screenplay doesn't provide such moments on too regular a basis and as such Mr. Mom is only rarely lifted above the level of basic, unassuming entertainment. - Anthony Nield
 
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
People have been living through the basic idea for "Mr. Mom" for years. It's too bad this movie doesn't feel more like their lives and less like the pilot for a TV sitcom. The movie's about a well-paid Ford executive who gets laid off and can't find work. Then his wife finds a job at an advertising agency, and her years of experience in "the front lines of consumerism" make her a big hit with the clients...Meanwhile, her husband stays home to keep house and raise the children. There are so many genuine comedy ideas (and not a few provocative ones) rising out of this situation that it's hard to see how the filmmakers could go wrong. But go wrong they do, with gimmicky sight gags and awkward fantasy sequences, stock characters and unbelievable situations. What a lost opportunity...That's especially true because the cast is so promising. Michael Keaton, a kinetic young actor who gives the uncanny impression of being able to think faster than he can talk, plays the husband. Teri Garr, Dustin Hoffman's other girlfriend in "Tootsie," is the wife. And Martin Mull is the snaky president of the advertising agency, with plans for promoting Garr into his own life...Now if they'd taken these characters and their situation and followed through on the implications, on a believable level, they might have come up with a true human comedy..."Mr. Mom" gives itself away with it's title, I think. The title was so obviously a Concept, a brief encapsulation of what the movie would be "about," that all the script needed to deliver was manufactured, artificial situations inspired, not by the experiences of joblessness or role reversal, but by memories of old TV shows. They had a great idea here. It's too bad they didn't follow it through on a human level, instead of making it feel made up and artificial and twice-removed, from the everyday experience it pretends to be about. - Roger Ebert