Mr. Mom (1983)

For 22 years I had to endure my mom's incessant Mr. Mom references. Chimes of "Cleanup on aisle three!" and "South to drop off, north to pick up!" repeating over and over again throughout my wonder and blunder years until I finally relented with the caveat that she had to pay me the $3.99 to rent it. Well like the old saying goes, mother knows best. Maybe I wasn't yucking it up like she was but I was certainly entertained and chortling throughout. John Hughes was a bit of a red flag, I usually bounce off his work. But something about this Michael Keaton-led family comedy is better suited for me.

Mr. Mom tells you all you need to know about the film from its poster. It's a classic role reversal plot where Keaton finds himself out of a job and taking care of his kids, while his wife played by Teri Garr takes on the corporate world. Hughes uses the old cliches liberally, giving us jokes about Keaton not knowing what to buy at the grocery store or how to use common household appliances. It's low hanging fruit but what makes it better is Keaton is a relatively sympathetic character. He's not painted as the bigoted father who is dismissive of all things feminine, rather he's more clueless and doesn't fully understand Garr's position as a mother. This combined with Keaton's performance makes you want to see him succeed even if he's supposed to be getting his comeuppance.

Some of the observational humor is genuinely funny, the aforementioned "South to drop off, north to pick up!" scene and the coupon poker game gave me a good laugh. Even if there's a dud like the goofy corporate olympics scene Hughes will back it up with another good joke or a fun Keaton bit. It's Garr's storyline where things get muddled. It's clearly not as worked on as Keaton's stuff and doesn't really pay off in the end. There's a running "gag" where her boss keeps trying to get with her and she does have the upper hand but the film isn't sure how to resolve all the topics it tries to address. It falls back in a way that feels like the gender stereotypes it worked to deconstruct are being reinforced; which normally comes at the part where the characters admit they learned a lesson.

However, Mr. Mom isn't as entirely cliche as one might think. There are scenes highlighting the problems with toxic masculinity. Scenes asking us why men can't enjoy the same things as women or even why they can't be friends. There's some fun corporate satire attacking phony Reagan-era corporations that pretend to care. It just ultimately doesn't stick the landing, and with comedy that's mostly the entire point. Still, there's no reason Mr. Mom can't be put alongside Hughes's more revered work. It has the heart, the fun-loving spirit, and one of the more tender handlings of social issues the man has written. Also Teri Garr died the day after Madi and I saw this film so someone please keep an eye on Keaton; please?