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"I take it this wasn't a planned pregnancy."
There's a lot to like about Look Who's Talking. It's a comedy written and directed by a talented woman, Amy Heckerling. John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are appealing individually and very much opposite each other. Modern viewers and re-watchers like me can also get a kick out of the unique situation where the leads are a guy on the comeback trail (Travolta), a woman crossing over from successful to star (Alley) and an unequivocal megastar (Bruce Willis). I'm sure if I tried hard enough, I could come up with another venn diagram-type movie, but I digress.
Mollie (Alley, in a role named after Heckerling's daughter) is an accountant who ends up pregnant. Betrayed by her baby daddy and former client (George Segal), Mollie gives birth after having a meet cute with James (Travolta), the cabdriver and small time con artist who takes her to the hospital.
"I was artificially inseminated."
"Are you a lesbo?"
We're nearly a half-hour into the 96-minute film. Even if you've never seen Look Who's Talking before, you've likely guessed the ending*. Mollie resolves to find Mikey (voice of Willis) the best daddy there is, it's apparent James is that kind of guy and the four boys playing Mikey look adorable while Willis says cute one liners. Mix in Abe Vigoda in a one-and-done appearance as James' possibly senile** grandfather, Olympia Dukakis and Twink Caplan doing okay work as Mollie's mother and best friend*** and the obligatory conflict when Albert might be a part of Mikey's life.
*I was watching with IMDB, which cut off the final gag of Mikey's new sister being voiced by Joan Rivers. What I don't remember is whether or not that last minute implied that Mollie and James were married. It feels like a given for 1989 -- and the pair are depicted as married in the sequel -- but I'm surprised nobody insisted on a definite answer.
**Or is he just diabetic?
**It feels like a missed opportunity that neither has a memorable scene opposite Travolta. I'm racking my brain trying to remember if Rona (Caplan) even has any interaction with him. Rosie (Dukakis) gets a bit where she confuses James tending to Mollie getting a splinter with the pair having sex.
I think my biggest problem with Look Who's Talking was that the whole didn't end up much larger than the sum of its parts. This is a movie I liked, but didn't love. Yes, I've had a busy month, but I think it's telling that I wasn't especially compelled to write this review.
"He -- he said 'Daddy'!"
"I think he called you 'Daddy.'"
"No, I'm talking to hear myself say it."
Recommended with reservations.
Thoughts:
-- Box Office: Grossing $140 million on a $7.5 million budget, this opened at No. 1, held the top spot for five weekends and came in fourth place for 1989.
-- Awards Watch: This won Favorite Comedy Motion Picture at the 16th People's Choice Awards, winning out over When Harry Met Sally ... and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. For Favorite Motion Picture, it lost to Batman. Alley, scoring the film's one nod at the 1990 American Comedy Awards, lost to Meg Ryan.
-- Critic's Corner, the actors: Roger Ebert liked Travolta ("warm and winning") and Alley ("finds the kind of role she must have been looking for"). Hal Hinson, Washington Post, didn't care for Alley's performance. "As a comedian she lacks definition; as an actress she's nonexistent." He did like Travolta. "A role like this is beneath (him), but he's enormously winning in it." Peter Travers concurred in Rolling Stone: "Travolta might deserve yet another chance to salvage his career." Willis, Hinson wrote, dominates the film. "The reason is simple -- he's got all the good lines."
-- Critic's Corner, the film: "Warm and lovable ... lightweight and warmhearted," Ebert wrote. On the other hand, he admitted thinking the voiceover concept was unnecessary. Hinson: "A great idea for a sketch, not a feature ... (comedies have) to deliver the jokes, and this one doesn't." "Ha-ha?" Travers asked. "Nope. Ho-hum." According to IMDB, this film was first pitched to Disney, which had recently scored a big hit by Americanizing Trois hommes et un couffin into Three Men and a Baby. Because of this, I got an extra laugh at Vincent Canby's review suggesting there could someday be a French remake. "(It's) the sort of movie the French do more often, if not especially better."
-- Five years ago, I was watching Ghostbusters in the wake of Harold Ramis' death. Now I'm watching Look Who's Talking in light of the reveal he was the inspiration for Albert. "I know this may be hard to understand, but I'm going through a selfish phase right now. ... I admit the timing is bad." I haven't read Ghostbuster's Daughter, so I don't know how much is based in reality and how much is for dramatic effect, but I wouldn't blame Heckerling for carrying a grudge. I also wonder if she's ever accidentally or intentionally seen Baby Boom (where Ramis also doesn't stick around for the good of a single woman and a baby) and been triggered by it.
-- This movie was a godsend for writers who like wordplay. IMDB searches turn up results for "Look Who's Not Talking," "Look Who's Stalking," "Look Who's Taunting," "Look Who's Shocking," "Look Who's Clocking" ... but surprisingly no "Look Who's Walking." Then again, I'm just searching in the realm of TV and movies, rather than books, greeting cards, headlines, etc.
-- "I think being a good father is keeping the mother happy so she doesn't drive the kids crazy."
-- Next Up: The Fabulous Baker Boys. I am so, so sorry for being so, so far behind. I'm hoping to use this weekend and (especially) Thanksgiving weekend as a means to play catch up. On the immediate docket are FBB, Fat Man and Little Boy and The Bear.
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