Look Who's Talking
| Look Who's Talking | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Amy Heckerling |
| Written by | Amy Heckerling |
| Produced by | Jonathan D. Krane |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Thomas Del Ruth |
| Edited by | Debra Chiate |
| Music by | David Kitay |
Production company | Management Company Entertainment Group (M.C.E.G.) |
| Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes [1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million[2] |
| Box office | $296,999,813[3] |
Look Who's Talking is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling and starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.[4] Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey.[5] The film features George Segal as Albert, the illegitimate father of Mikey.
Plot
Mollie is an accountant living and working in New York City. The latest client she has been assigned to by her firm is a charmingly handsome but shallow, womanizing executive named Albert. He seduces her, and although he is married, he embarks on an affair with her, promising to leave his wife for her but insists he can't leave his wife just yet because she suffers from bulimia; something Mollie's friend Rona finds very skeptical. (Finds very skeptical? Really?)
Mollie insists that their relationship has to stop; however, succumbing to temptation, she proceeds to have sex with him, and becomes pregnant. Once she realizes this, she informs him, who takes the news well and again promises to leave his wife and raise the baby with her. Until then, she decides to tell her eccentric and overbearing parents that there is no father and that she became pregnant via a sperm donor. She continues her relationship with him as the pregnancy develops. She begins to suspect he's interested in another woman, interior decorator Melissa. She finally admits she's tired of being constantly compared to Albert's wife Beth and that she's tired of their affair. He calms her, showing he's gotten an apartment, though he never explains how Beth took the news. She believes he left her out of love. Later, when she and her best friend, Rona, are shopping, she finds him in a clinch with Melissa. He then tells her that he is in love with Melissa. Though he states that Beth knew about Melissa, it appears only Melissa knew about Mollie and her pregnancy. He acted on his plan to live with Melissa and to leave Mollie. He didn't want to tell her so close to her due date and gives a pathetic excuse that he's going through a "selfish phase"
Mollie leaves angry and upset but also heartbroken. As she storms off, she realizes that her baby is now without a father, since Albert chose himself. But her heartbreak is put on a halt as she suddenly goes into labour When she hails a cab, the driver, James, realizes the seriousness of the situation and proceeds to drive her to the hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, the nurses mistake him for the baby's father, and he feels inclined to stay. She gives birth to a son and names him Michael, "Mikey" for short and James witnesses the birth. Mollie instantly is joyous with her new son, but also downhearted as she sees proud fathers at maternity ward. She feels very guilty that she messed things up for Mikey with not having a father. But she promises that he's the only thing that matters to her and vows to find a good father for him. A few days after he is brought home, she receives a visit from James, and he returns the purse she left behind in his taxi, even though she claims it was stolen. He meets Mikey, for the first time since his birth and two bond almost instantly.
Over the next month, Mollie is dealing with being a single parent and Mikey is becoming used to his new world. Mollie discovers that James has been using her address to keep his grandfather in a nursing home in the local area. She confronts him and he offers to babysit Mikey if she lets him continue to use the address, to which she agrees. As time goes by Mikey and James form a paternal bond and its hinted James feels an attraction to Mollie. She starts dating again but quickly realizes that none of the men she has been seeing are good enough for Mikey. We see three of them with her at restaurants, then we see her imagining how they'd treat him after witnessing their behaviors: the first angrily berates the waiter for messing up his order and she imagines him being an verbally cruel father; the second is a fastidious neat freak who she sees as too uptight; the third is a man named Harry who works with her father. James tricks him into taking advantage of her by having her pay for everything.
Over time even Mollie begins to form a friendship with James. One day he asks her to help him sign some paper work to get his grandfather into a nursery home, which she agrees. After spending the day with his grandfather, James treats her to lunch and takes her flying in his plane. Later that same night, she lets her guard down and almost sleeps with James. However, the past haunts her and imagines what life would be like if she married him. Something she thinks would be horrible believing he would live as a bum and they would live in a dirty, homeless-like life style. She asks him to leave, despite him telling her he loves both her and Mikey. Soon after, Mollie is forced to help Albert with his taxes, when he pleads with her to let him see Mikey.
He convinces her that he thinks of both of them constantly. Though he never says if he's still with either Beth or Melissa. He eventually convinces her that he's genuinely repentant. She agrees but forgets to inform James, who is babysitting him. A fight ensues when Albert arrives and claims to be Mikey's father; James does not believe this is possible, as Mollie had told him she used a sperm donor. James is further unconvinced when he asks him questions about Mikey to prove he's the father and finds out that, apart from Mikey's birthday, Albert knows absolutely nothing about him.
They get into an argument, and Albert leaves. James confronts her about Albert, she admits that she lied because he was married. When James confronts her if she still loves Albert, Mollie admits she honestly doesn't know. But she believes Albert would be a good father because he's successful, smart, mature, and was good with his other kids. The two continue to fight when James demands Albert is forbidden to see Mikey. When James states he feels he's the closest thing Mikey has to a dad, Mollie scoffs at the idea stating he's like a "big kid" and wasn't mature enough to be a parent. The two continue to fight when he brings up the affair and leaves abruptly. Later the next day, Mollie overhears James give a heartwarming speech to Mikey about parenthood and how much he loves Mikey as a son. Though she shows second thoughts, she decides Mikey needs to meet his father.
Later, Mollie takes Mikey to see Albert, though he hasn't changed. Aside from trying to convince Mollie that he "wants" her, he basically shows no real interest in Mikey. And says that he can't be a father to Mikey and that he's raised his other children (even though they're only 11 and 9). Mollie loses her temper as she realizes he selfishly cares more about his possessions than his own son. Then she proceeds to destroy his office with the help of a very enthusiastic Mikey. She later receives a call from the nursing home James' grandfather is living at complaining about his behavior. She explains to the manager why his behavior had been so bad, and he agrees to let him stay, believing her to be James' wife. She runs into James outside the office; he had overheard the discussion, and he thanks her.
While Mollie is pleading with the manager, Mikey escapes from James' grandfather. First he wanders into the cafeteria and then the kitchen. After he sees a taxi outside the nursing home and believes it to be James', he climbs in as it is taken away by a tow truck. After leaving it, he ends up standing in the middle of open traffic, looking for James' taxi. James and Mollie rescue him from the street, and when he calls him "Da-da," she sees that he is not only perfect for Mikey, but perfect for her, as well. They kiss, with Mikey looking on happily.
As the credits roll, James and an older Mikey are shown walking through the hospital to see Mollie (now married to James), who has just given birth to Mikey's half-sister, Julie.
Cast
- John Travolta as James Ubriacco
- Kirstie Alley as Mollie
- George Segal as Albert
- Olympia Dukakis as Rosie
- Twink Caplan as Rona
- Joy Boushel as Melissa
- Abe Vigoda as Grandpa
- Jason Schaller, Jaryd Waterhouse, Jacob Haines, and Christopher Aydon as Michael "Mikey"
- Bruce Willis as the voice of Mikey
- Joan Rivers as the voice of Julie (uncredited)
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives Look Who's Talking a score of 58% based on reviews from 33 critics.[6]
The film grossed $140,088,813 domestically and a worldwide total of $296,999,813,[3] making it Travolta's most successful film in 11 years since Grease.
Sequels and reboot
The film was successful enough to spawn two sequels: Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993). The success of the first two films also inspired an ABC sitcom called Baby Talk, which aired from 1991–92 and featured Tony Danza as the voice of "Baby Mickey." John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and Olympia Dukakis are the only actors to appear in all three films in the series.
On April 6, 2010, it was reported that Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz is planning to reboot the series.[7]
References
- ^ "Look Who's Talking (12)". British Board of Film Classification. 1990-01-04. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
- ^ "Look Who's Talking (1989) - Box office / business". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
- ^ a b Look Who's Talking at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Cerone, Daniel (October 26, 1989). "Look Who's Smiling . . . : Movies: The hit "Look Who's Talking" has made writer-director Amy Heckerling hot again--thanks to her daughter". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
- ^ Willman, Chris (October 13, 1989). "Witty Fun for Grown-Ups in 'Look Who's Talking'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ Look Who's Talking at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (April 6, 2010). "'Looks Who's Talking' reboot in the works". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved April 7, 2010.