When Michael Keaton was cast as Batman later in the Eighties, it was a popular joke that they cast Mr. Mom as the Dark Knight. Today, it’s a sign of Keaton’s versatility, and a cautionary tale of how we shouldn’t be quick to judge casting decisions: Keaton is great as Batman, and he’s one of the best parts of “Mr. Mom” (1983).
But even though John Hughes wrote “Vacation” the same year, “Mr. Mom” does not rank as one of his finer efforts.
Pales next to ‘Vacation’
As much as “Vacation” stands the test of time, “Mr. Mom” doesn’t. It’s reasonably pleasant to watch, featuring Jack (Keaton) and Caroline (Teri Garr) Butler’s homey Detroit abode, where they are raising two young sons and a baby daughter. The department-store music stylings are soothing.
When Jack is laid off from his auto-plant job and Caroline goes back to work with an advertising firm, director Stan Dragoti and his team don’t make it out to be that big of a deal.
Except that Jack inexplicably never learned any domestic skills. And Caroline, despite knowing her husband better than anyone, doesn’t teach him these skills before she goes off to the workplace.
It’s tough to take “Mr. Mom’s” stakes seriously when the film turns into a hammy sitcom with everything but the laugh track.
Just knowing the film’s (admittedly memorable) title and nothing else, you can guess a washing machine will go haywire as Jack overloads it with both laundry and soap, he’ll feed the baby adult food, and within a day the formerly immaculate house will look like a war zone.
‘Home Alone’ prototype?
It’s fun to imagine “Home Alone” percolating in Hughes’ mind as he thinks of household disasters and violence more extreme than what’s appropriate for this film.
As for grocery shopping, that’s a nearly impossible task for Jack, who would probably starve if he was a bachelor. It’s no exaggeration to say Uncle Buck is more domestic than Jack. Apparently Caroline never fell ill in their first seven years as parents, because it seems the kids wouldn’t last long under Jack’s exclusive care.
This sequence is saved because it’s fun to watch the likeable Keaton knocking over cans and grapefruits, buying maxi pads with embarrassment, and trying to escape divorcee Joan (Ann Jillian) and her cleavage in the parking lot.
Meanwhile, Caroline is a superstar at the advertising firm as Hughes gets ahead of the curve of the sitcom trope of the hapless husband paired with the do-it-all wife. It’s a credit to Garr and Martin Mull — as Caroline’s increasingly inappropriate boss Ron Richardson — that the Caroline plot is equally engaging to the Jack plot.
I also like the 1983 touch of a boardroom filled with cigarette smoke, a reminder that this was closer to the “Mad Men” era than to present day.
Loving couple, small stakes
The whole supporting cast is strong, including Jeffrey Tambor – who has apparently always looked the same – as Jack’s auto-plant boss who is slimy in an ill-defined way; he somehow tries to blame Jack for the company’s failures after Jack left.
Jillian leads the pack of Jack’s new gal pals, with whom he plays poker for coupons; Miriam Flynn (“Vacation’s” Cousin Catherine) is a welcome familiar face within the group.
There’s something appealing about watching a couple that loves each other and gets along great, where neither really believes the other would cheat. But that also means there’s no genuine drama in “Mr. Mom’s” plot. I don’t think even Hughes and Dragoti believe in the stakes.
Featuring some scenes written purely for a chuckle, “Mr. Mom” is structurally similar to “The Great Outdoors” — lightweight and fun. The latter is directed better, but it’s superior mainly because Hughes writes a tighter, funnier script.
“Mr. Mom” is a too-flat blend of warm domesticity, an absurdist take on male incompetence around the home, and soapy possibilities of spousal cheating. The mix isn’t indigestible over 90 minutes, but nor is it zesty.