In “Mr. Mom,” Jack and Caroline Butler are living the typical suburban life of the 1980’s. She’s a stay-at-home mom, he works as an engineer at a car factory, and they are struggling to make ends meet. But they budget and they’re hanging in there, until Jack (Micheal Keaton) loses his job. Wondering what they’ll do to support the family, Jack and Caroline (Teri Garr) both start putting in their applications. When Caroline is hired before Jack, they both agree that Jack will stay home with the kids, but it’s just for a little while until something comes along for Jack. But the automobile industry is in a slump – and that’s really all Jack is qualified for.
Jack thinks that this whole parent-thing will be a piece of cake. After all, how hard can playing with the kids all day really be? But reality sinks in – it’s hard, hard work. He falls into a deep depression, feelings of helplessness overwhelming him. To top it off, Caroline’s boss (Martin Mull) keeps chasing her around the office. She finally ends up punching him in the nose.
Jack finally starts putting some of the pieces together, and finds ways to suit the running of the house to his own unique system. He manages to dovetail ironing and making lunch at the same time – did you know you can make a grilled cheese sandwich with an iron? Yeah, I probably wouldn’t recommend that one. He figures out how to do the laundry, the grocery shopping, and the housework – and he gets pretty good at it, too. The best part is, he develops a closer relationship with his children – that is, after the unfortunate feeding-the-baby-chili incident. But he learns how to clean that up, too! See how well he’s doing?
It’s hysterical to watch him make mistake after mistake, get hooked on soap operas, and worry that he’s not attractive any more. He has to fend off the advances of an amourous neighbor, which does boost his self-esteem just a midge. He also has to deal with all the intricacies of plumbers, electricians, and potty-training, but by the end of the movie, he’s learned to handle it all with finesse.
Today, we have more stay-at-home dads than ever before, but when this movie was first released, it was a fairly new phenomenon. I think Jack Butler did a lot to show guys – you know what, this is cool, this is manly, and it can be done.
This film is rated PG for some mild language.
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