--- title: "Mr. Mom" year: 1983 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/mr-mom" fi1m_id: "mr-mom" imdb_id: "tt0085970" tmdb_id: 13105 wikidata_id: "Q1373570" fi1m_score: 62 critics_score: 51 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-10-04T18:22:34.295202+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T18:22:44.624147+00:00" region: "PT" 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." --- # Mr. Mom (1983) Directed by Stan Dragoti · 1h 31m · Comedy, Drama ## Identity Mr. Mom - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/mr-mom - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** mr-mom - **IMDb ID:** tt0085970 - **TMDB ID:** 13105 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1373570 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085970/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/13105, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1373570 **Fi1m score: 62** · Critics 51 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* Michael Keaton deserves better jokes, though someone still has to do the shopping > Michael Keaton and Teri Garr make this domestic role reversal warmer than its dated premise deserves. The shopping trip raises a laugh, but too much of the comedy stops at finding a father doing housework amusing. ## Synopsis Jack (Michael Keaton) takes on the housework and childcare when Caroline (Teri Garr) goes to work. That puts Alex (Frederick Koehler) and Kenny (Taliesin Jaffe) in his care, and makes an ordinary shopping trip with the children a test of his ability to cope. Jack wants to keep things running at home, but looking after the children leaves little room for learning the job as he goes. Caroline has her own working day to manage while Jack discovers how much work there is in being the parent at home. ## Review *Mr. Mom* is a likeable comedy held back by the belief that a father doing the housework is a joke in itself. Director Stan Dragoti and writer John Hughes get enough mileage from Michael Keaton and Teri Garr to make it a decent, undemanding evening. They are less successful at finding fresh comedy in the exchange of domestic responsibilities. The film works best when it stops treating Jack’s situation as extraordinary and pays attention to his children. Michael Keaton gives Jack the right mixture of effort and injured pride. We laughed at his shopping trip with the children, because he seems so put out by how much effort an ordinary errand requires. The pleasure is in watching him try to cope, and he gets more out of that than the basic joke has any right to expect. His performance leaves room for affection even when the slapstick grows tiresome. Teri Garr is just as important to the film’s warmth. Her comic timing gives Caroline a presence that the thin writing does not always earn, and she is good company even when the joke around her is obvious. She also helps keep the comedy from becoming a prolonged excuse to feel sorry for Jack. More attention to her would have given the film some welcome variety; his domestic difficulties cannot sustain every scene. John Hughes finds something more engaging in Jack’s scenes with his children. Here Michael Keaton can let the effort of being a father matter, rather than simply showing a man baffled by domestic work. Those passages give the film some tenderness, and they make the broad farce elsewhere feel a little cheap. They also suggest how much better the comedy might have been had it trusted the family to hold our attention without another bout of slapstick. Victor J. Kemper’s cinematography is straightforward enough to let the performances do the work, though it contributes little comic surprise of its own. Alfred Sweeney’s production design gives the household business a serviceable setting without making it especially distinctive. That plainness suits a comedy about ordinary responsibilities. It also puts considerable pressure on the performers when the script has no better idea than to make a routine task look difficult. Patrick Kennedy’s editing keeps the farce moving, and the 91-minute running time is a kindness. Even so, some of these jokes have finished their work before the film lets them go. Lee Holdridge’s music provides an agreeable accompaniment without giving the comedy much extra character. Stan Dragoti keeps things amiable, but too rarely allows the less frantic exchanges to determine the pace. The family-comedy pleasures are modest but real: recognisable frustration, appealing actors and some affection for the people making a mess of things. The dated assumptions are harder to ignore when the slapstick asks us to laugh simply because a man is doing a woman’s supposed job. For an undemanding evening with Michael Keaton and Teri Garr, there is enough here. Come for the actors, with reasonable expectations of the jokes. *Fi1m score 62, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **How long is Mr. Mom, and what is it rated?** *Mr. Mom* runs 1h 31m. It is a comedy and drama film. **Where can I watch Mr. Mom in Portugal?** *Mr. Mom* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from €3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **What should I watch after Mr. Mom?** After *Mr. Mom*, try [*Parenthood*](https://film.one/film/parenthood) (1989, Fi1m 78): More family chaos, with greater patience for the parents causing it. Then [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) (1921, Fi1m 84): Parenthood and slapstick meet, with considerably more feeling beneath the accidents; and [*The Full Monty*](https://film.one/film/the-full-monty) (1997, Fi1m 81): Another comedy about men struggling to feel useful without their jobs. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Time Out**, DP (70/100, inferred): The review is positive, suggesting the comedy remains effective despite its familiar premise. It singles out the spectacle of men doing housework as the film’s comedic subject. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mr-mom) - **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No praise or complaint from the review is visible. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mr-mom-1983) - **Radio Times**, Dave Aldridge (2/5): The review finds the role-reversal comedy dated and too reliant on farce and slapstick. It praises the likeable performances from Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Christopher Lloyd and Martin Mull. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-asxumj/mr-mom/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (30/100, inferred): The review finds the comedy unoriginal and says Keaton and Garr’s talents are largely wasted. It praises Keaton’s dramatic scenes with his children and Garr’s comic timing, which partly lift the film. [Read](https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/mr-mom-1200425483/) ## Details - **Director:** Stan Dragoti - **Director:** Stan Dragoti - **Writer:** John Hughes - **Cinematography:** Victor J. Kemper - **Editor:** Patrick Kennedy - **Music:** Lee Holdridge - **Production design:** Alfred Sweeney - **Costume design:** Nolan Miller - **Producer:** Lauren Shuler Donner, Lynn Loring, Bill Damaschke - **Cast:** Michael Keaton as Jack; Teri Garr as Caroline; Frederick Koehler as Alex; Taliesin Jaffe as Kenny; Courtney-Jane White as Megan; Brittany White as Megan; Martin Mull as Ron; Ann Jillian as Joan - **Runtime:** 1h 31m - **First release (the US):** 22 July 1983 - **Genres:** Comedy, Drama - **Box office:** $65 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFXuRHFW3Wk ## Where to watch in Portugal - Amazon Prime Video: rent €3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent €3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy €6.99, hd - Apple TV: buy €6.99, hd *Checked 2026-10-04.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Parenthood* (1989), Fi1m 78: More family chaos, with greater patience for the parents causing it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/parenthood.md) - *The Kid* (1921), Fi1m 84: Parenthood and slapstick meet, with considerably more feeling beneath the accidents. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-kid.md) - *Three Men and a Cradle* (1985): More men discovering that childcare requires rather more than good intentions. - *Like Father, Like Son* (2013): For a quieter, more searching account of learning to be a father. - *The Full Monty* (1997), Fi1m 81: Another comedy about men struggling to feel useful without their jobs. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-full-monty.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/mr-mom