--- title: "3 Men and a Baby" year: 1987 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/3-men-and-a-baby" fi1m_id: "3-men-and-a-baby" imdb_id: "tt0094137" tmdb_id: 12154 wikidata_id: "Q1540124" fi1m_score: 71 critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-10-04T20:02:41.948382+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T20:02:42.342866+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # 3 Men and a Baby (1987) Directed by Leonard Nimoy · 1h 42m · MPA PG · Comedy ## Identity 3 Men and a Baby - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/3-men-and-a-baby - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** 3-men-and-a-baby - **IMDb ID:** tt0094137 - **TMDB ID:** 12154 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1540124 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094137/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/12154, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1540124 **Fi1m score: 71** · Critics 66 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* The nappies are funnier than the drug smugglers, which should have settled the script meeting > Three well-matched leads make *3 Men and a Baby* worth an undemanding evening. Leonard Nimoy gets the childcare bickering right, though a needless crime subplot keeps interrupting the part worth watching. ## Synopsis Peter Mitchell (Tom Selleck), Michael Kellam (Steve Guttenberg) and Jack Holden (Ted Danson) are three bachelors with little experience of looking after a baby. Mary (Michelle Blair) needs care, and nappies give the men a practical introduction to responsibilities they do not know how to handle. They have to learn what she needs while negotiating their own disagreements. The immediate problem is getting the childcare done: there are three adults to share the work, but none has much expertise to offer the others. ## Review *3 Men and a Baby* is good company for an evening when a modest comedy will do. Leonard Nimoy keeps the emphasis on three bachelors discovering how little they know about caring for a child, and gives the actors room to make that familiar situation amusing. The film asks for affection without doing much to complicate it. That limits how far it can go, but the central performances make its modest ambition feel reasonable. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson are well matched because none seems anxious to protect his dignity. Their comic timing gives the men’s disagreements a rhythm that makes even the ordinary business of childcare entertaining. We laughed at their bickering over how to care for Mary: the pleasure is in watching three adults collectively fail to supply much expertise. They commit to looking inept without making the baby feel like an excuse for a succession of star turns. The screenplay by Jim Cruickshank and James Orr is less sure of what to do around them. A drug-smuggling subplot adds business the domestic comedy does not need, and its contrivances are harder to forgive than the men’s ignorance about childcare. We can happily accept exaggerated incompetence when the actors find something funny in it; the crime material is simply an interruption. Having to follow it becomes a chore when spending more time with the baby would have done perfectly well. Adam Greenberg’s cinematography and Peter S. Larkin’s production design give it a polish that suits this undemanding approach. There is little here to distract from the performers, which is usually the right decision for a comedy built around their reactions to one another. We would not mistake the comfortable presentation for much interest in the less manageable realities of childcare. The film is content to let its stars look foolish in agreeable surroundings. Michael A. Stevenson’s editing serves the comic timing better than it disguises the script’s changes of direction. The exchanges between the men have enough pace, but cutting away from them cannot make the other material equally appealing. Marvin Hamlisch’s music is serviceable, though the cast do more to earn the film’s warmth. We remember their enthusiasm for the unglamorous work more readily than anything in the score. By the standards of domestic comedy, the premise is hardly adventurous: three men discover that a nappy is beyond their existing skills. There is something wearing about treating male involvement in childcare as such a novelty. Yet the film gives its bachelors enough willingness to learn that their ineptitude stays mostly endearing. Their mistakes remain the main source of the humour, and the actors avoid congratulating the characters merely for making an effort. At 102 minutes, it asks for a manageable amount of indulgence, even if some of that time is spent on the wrong plot. We would choose it for a quiet evening rather than expect it to surprise us. Parents may prefer to save it for a night when somebody else has done the changing. *Fi1m score 71, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is 3 Men and a Baby worth watching?** *3 Men and a Baby* is worth watching for an undemanding evening of domestic comedy, and we score it 71 out of 100. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson make the childcare bickering warmly amusing, though a needless drug-smuggling subplot keeps taking time away from them. **How long is 3 Men and a Baby, and what is it rated?** *3 Men and a Baby* runs 1h 42m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy film. **Where can I watch 3 Men and a Baby in the US?** *3 Men and a Baby* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does 3 Men and a Baby compare to The Kid?** *3 Men and a Baby* is an agreeable domestic comedy, but we recommend [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) more strongly for bringing improvised fatherhood, physical humour and tenderness together. The three bachelors’ childcare disagreements suit an undemanding evening; Chaplin’s comedy offers more convincing affection, despite sometimes leaning too heavily on sentiment. **What should I watch after 3 Men and a Baby?** After *3 Men and a Baby*, try [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) (1921, Fi1m 84): Improvised fatherhood brings physical comedy and tenderness into unusually close company. Then [*Hunt for the Wilderpeople*](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople) (2016, Fi1m 82): Reluctant guardianship, awkward affection and comedy that allows its characters some roughness. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Empire**, Emma Cochrane (70/100, inferred): Cochrane finds the film still charming and watchable, with its three leads making the comedy work. She praises their bickering and attempts to care for the baby, while criticizing the drug-smuggling subplot as unnecessary and nonsensical. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/three-men-baby-review/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (65/100, inferred): Variety finds the comedy slight but hard to resist. It praises the three leads’ comic timing and their enthusiasm for the caregiving comedy. [Read](https://variety.com/1986/film/reviews/3-men-and-a-baby-1200427338/) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (64/100, inferred): The page is identifiable as a film review, but its verdict cannot be verified from the accessible text. No specific element can be confirmed as praised or criticized. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/25/movies/film-three-men-and-a-baby.html) - **Time Out**, BC (64/100, inferred): The available description presents the remake as sleeker and more expensive than the French original, but gives no clear overall verdict. It notes that the three bachelors are still inept around the baby. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/three-men-and-a-baby) ## Details - **Director:** Leonard Nimoy - **Director:** Leonard Nimoy - **Screenplay:** Jim Cruickshank, James Orr - **Cinematography:** Adam Greenberg - **Editor:** Michael A. Stevenson - **Music:** Marvin Hamlisch - **Production design:** Peter S. Larkin - **Costume design:** Larry S. Wells - **Producer:** Ted Field, Robert W. Cort - **Cast:** Tom Selleck as Peter Mitchell; Steve Guttenberg as Michael Kellam; Ted Danson as Jack Holden; Margaret Colin as Rebecca; Celeste Holm as Jack's Mother; Nancy Travis as Sylvia Bennington; Philip Bosco as Det. Sgt. Melkowitz; Paul Guilfoyle as Vince - **Runtime:** 1h 42m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 27 November 1987 - **Genres:** Comedy - **Budget:** $11 million - **Box office:** $243 million ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: streaming - Disney+: streaming, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd *Checked 2026-10-04.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Kid* (1921), Fi1m 84: Improvised fatherhood brings physical comedy and tenderness into unusually close company. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-kid.md) - *Baby Boom* (1987): Another comfortable adult discovers that childcare has little respect for professional competence. - *About a Boy* (2002): A self-satisfied bachelor learns responsibility, with sharper jokes and less reassurance. - *Like Father, Like Son* (2013): For a quieter, more searching look at men learning how to parent. - *Hunt for the Wilderpeople* (2016), Fi1m 82: Reluctant guardianship, awkward affection and comedy that allows its characters some roughness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/3-men-and-a-baby