I've got a strange gift for remembering things I watched extremely long ago. For example, if I happen to see an episode of a TV show I haven't watched in easily twenty years, I still remember how it ends. I can also identify episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation withing twenty seconds of changing to that channel and no, I don't use the info button. I'm just that good. So, this film I apparently watched a million times because my mom used it as a way to get a nap in.
Mr. Mom is the story of happily married suburban couple Jack and Carolyn. Jack is played by Michael Keaton, who I see in some ways as the everyman of the 1980s and then he was Batman. Carolyn is played by Teri Garr. Jack is an engineer at an auto plant, Carolyn is a stay at home mom. Now, if you've ever seen a movie about anyone who works for an auto manufacturer, you know where this is headed. Jack loses his job and it's Carolyn who finds a job in advertising first, meaning Jack is going to have to stay home and tend to the kids. Now, I know, obvious setup, but this film really is an examination of gender roles and the differing notions of ego for men and women. It's directed by Stan Dragoti, but the script is by John Hughes so of course the story is fantastic in its interconnectedness and the way he sets up the big moments, like the climax.
What I love most is the way that Jack is so freaking clueless when dropped in the world of suburban moms, no idea what to do at the grocery store (frankly, I have no idea how to do anything at the grocery store except buy Coke, hummus, olives, fancy cheese and pasta sauce.) and the correct way to drop off the kids at school, which if you take away nothing else from this film, you should take away north to drop off, south to pick up. It's also funny in addressing Carolyn's adjustment to life at work, as she finds herself cutting her boss' steak. Also, the soap opera sequence in this film is about as good as it gets. Seriously, it sets the bar for fantasy sequences it is so perfect.
This movie seriously reminds me of more recent efforts about the recession like Jason Reitman's Up In The Air and John Wells' The Company Men, the latter of which I think no one saw, but I saw it at the Austin Film Festival and also saw John Wells there and both of those are well worth seeing. Anyway, that was my favorite film of 1983, let me know what you think in the comments section.
No comments:
Post a Comment