Mr. Mom

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stan Dragoti directs. Victor J. Kemper behind the camera. Lee Holdridge scores. Patrick Kennedy cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in German, English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 143 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, English, Spanish.
• 3Directed by Stan Dragoti, shot by Victor J. Kemper. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Lee Holdridge. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Patrick Kennedy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Michael Keaton and Teri Garr and Frederick Koehler carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "When mom goes to work, dad goes berserk!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0085970 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Victor J. Kemper

Original score

Lee Holdridge

Editing

Patrick Kennedy

Production design

Alfred Sweeney

Costume design

Nolan Miller

Makeup / hair

Ric Sagliani

Sound

Aaron Rochin

Runtime

91 min · 1h 31m

Status

Released

Box office

$64,783,827

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Mr. Mom (1983) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

77% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

50/100

IMDB rating

6.6/10 · 31,434 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Stan Dragoti

• 
  Love at First Bite

  1979 · ★ 6.0
• 
  The Man with One Red Shoe

  1985 · ★ 5.7
• 
  Necessary Roughness

  1991 · ★ 5.5
• 
  She's Out of Control

  1989 · ★ 5.2
• 
  Dirty Little Billy

  1972 · ★ 5.1

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Mr. Mom (1983) | Jack (Michael Keaton) Shopping with the Kids | MGM Studios

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Mr. Mom 1983 TV trailer

  Teaser

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-09-25
  ★ 7/10

  Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows - and I'm liking them. I'm losing it! Mr. Mom is directed by Stan Dragoti and written by John Hughes. It stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr and Martin Mull. Music is by Lee Holdridge and cinematography by Victor J. Kemper. Plot sees Keaton as Jack Butler, who after being laid off from work, is forced to become a house husband after his wife Caroline (Garr) lands a good job with Schooner Tuna - something he's really not cut out to do. Ah, well, look, it's obviously very eighties, and thankfully society has moved on in leaps and bounds since this film was released. But good honest comedy is just that, honest, and for those looking for a good chuckle whilst admiring the talent of a pre-Batman Keaton, Mr. Mom is a bad mood lifter. Condensed into the 90 minute running time are enough gags and fun sequences to fill out a 12 episode sit-com, with a pre-teen-angst trail blazing John Hughes scripting it full of quotable lines. Lines which Keaton delivers with the comic timing not befitting someone just starting out in film. The fun is mined from Jack being hopeless at basic household chores whilst badly tending the three young children at the same time. Enter scenes involving shopping, dropping the kids off at school, laundry, cooking and ironing. As his masculinity starts to wane, Jack starts too slob out and gets his kicks by watching day-time soap operas and playing cards with the neighbourhood women. This coincides with his wife Caroline (Garr adorable) advancing well at work, but paying a price for it by being away from the family home far too much. There's also the looming presence of Caroline's smarmy boss (Martin Mull delightfully sleazy) and the good time girl (Ann Jillian sexing it up) who has her eye on Jack for fun and frolics. Both of these are stereotypes, but they existed then as much as they exist now, with that, it's easy to cut Mr. Mom some slack. Supporting slots fall to Christopher Lloyd (who would re-team with Keaton for the very funny "The Dream Team" in 1989), Jeffrey Tambor ("City Slickers"), Graham Jarvis (TV "Starsky & Hutch/Cagney & Lacey") and Miriam Flynn ("National Lampoon's Vacation"). The child actors put in pleasing turns, where they score funny points both visually and orally, and director Dragoti ("The Man With One Red Shoe") directs in an unfussy natural way. Ultimately it's Keaton and Hughes' script that lifts it to better comedy heights, the latter of which also plays on some basic fears that arise in the real world. Yeah, it's not just about Jack's bumbling around the home, that John Hughes was a sharp fella you know. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• AA

  Aaron Spelling Productions

  US

• SH

  Sherwood Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerLauren Shuler Donner
• Associate ProducerBill Wilson
• Co-ProducerHarry Colomby
• Executive ProducerAaron Spelling
• Associate ProducerArt Levinson
• Second Assistant DirectorDustin Bernard
• Key GripGaylin P. Schultz
• Sound Effects EditorHal Sanders
• Music EditorStephen A. Hope
• Transportation CoordinatorGene Clinesmith
• Unit Production ManagerArt Levinson
• Sound Re-Recording MixerAaron Rochin
• Transportation CaptainBruce Hauer
• Production AssistantLindsay Skutch
• Unit PublicistLyla Foggia
• Property MasterSal Sommatino
• Production CoordinatorLiz Galloway
• Location ManagerMichael Neale
• OrchestratorLee Holdridge
• Script SupervisorH. Bud Otto
• Camera OperatorLou Barlia
• First Assistant DirectorJames Dyer
• Makeup ArtistRic Sagliani
• Set DesignerSig Tingloff

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• housewife
• stay-at-home dad
• detroit, michigan
• adoring
• amused
• familiar

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1983-07-22PG
• Theatrical1983-08-19PG

Also known as

International titles

• Las locas peripecias de un Señor mamáES
• Мистер МамочкаRU
• Mr. Mom: Dona de Casa por AcasoBR
• Monsieur maman - Le roi du foyerFR
• El Sr. MamáMX