User reviews

Chevy Chase gives an amiable performance as a prosecuting attorney who falls in love with artist Farrah Fawcett (who looks as great as ever). But she already has an 11 year old son (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) whose father ran out on the family. So the kid is wary of letting ANY man into his mothers' life, especially when the mom & child have gotten along perfectly well by themselves for years. Thomas schemes to eliminate Chase from his & Fawcetts' lives, and thinks that when he and Chase join the Indian Guides, Chase will get fed up and quit. But Chase digs in his heels and refuses to do so.

"Man of the House" is an admittedly lightweight, formula-bound family comedy that does at least have good messages in it about learning to have faith in other people. It benefits from some entertainingly quirky characters, like perfectionist Red Sweeney (Art La Fleur) and mute circus performer Lloyd Small (physical comedian David Shiner); both of them and their sons are part of the group.

A major subplot has to do with a mafia goon (Richard Portnow) who wants revenge on Chase since the attorney was able to send his father away for half a century. But being that this IS a Disney family comedy, this material never gets too intense, and Portnows' associates (Peter Appel, Richard Foronjy) are portrayed as bumblers.

In addition to those character actors mentioned, other notable performers such as Chief Leonard George, Ron Canada, John DiSanti, and the ever-endearing George Wendt all put in appearances. The cast is generally good, with young Thomas and his fellow child actors giving appealing performances. The plotting and the gags DO tend to be pretty predictable, but overall the movie works pretty well. Likability and good vibes do help to make up for the formulaic nature of the script, as well as the universal aspect of learning to accept step-parents and step-children in ones' lives.

Six out of 10.

I can remember loving this movie back in the '90s. I recently rewatched it and still thought it was a pretty good movie. The cast had some really big names (for the time), a number of jokes seemed like it pushed the "Disney limits", and well....Chevy Chase. Going back after all these years to watch Man of the House, you notice how '90s the film really is. From video games, to clothing, and hairstyles, it's full of nostalgia. Man of the House is right in the mix of Disney's mid-90s push for live action movies like Heavyweights, Mighty Ducks, and The Santa Clause.

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Mind-bogglingly bad Disney comedy pits middle-aged sweethearts Chevy Chase and Farrah Fawcett against Fawcett's prankish pre-teen son Jonathan Taylor Thomas (that smug Keebler elf from the TV sitcom "Home Improvement"). After single mom Farrah brings new love-interest Chevy home to meet her kid, Taylor resorts to juvenile tomfoolery to scare the suitor away...sound familiar? Taking its cue from "The Parent Trap", but blessedly giving us only one child at the helm, this lame-duck script has nowhere to go after the initial set-up. Nice to see Chase and Fawcett together (the original choices for "Foul Play"), but the comic chaos which erupts here is only for undiscriminating viewers. * from ****

This one is a typical "doesn´t hurt" comedy, like the other movies actor J.T.Thomas has done up to 1998. ("Speedway Junkie" in 1999 was the first change of direction for JTT) This movie is a must for JTT-Maniacs (like me), but not for normal people.There are many ways of wasting your time more enjoyable!

As usual, I'm in the minority.

I love this movie. Chevy is so funny as the step dad to Jonathan Taylor Thomas and would-be husband to Farrah Fawcet. I loved Chevy in this. He plays characters completely off the cuff, and I found his character endearing, but what I really liked about this movie was Farrah. She still shines after all those years, in a completely engaging performance.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is perfectly precocious in his role as Fawcett's son, a boy who lost his father, and refuses to accept Chevy as an adequate substitute.

It's funny, heartwarming, and genuinely sweet.

It rates a 6.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Mature-acting 11-year-old Jonathan Taylor Thomas (as Ben Archer) is irked when beautiful blonde mom Farrah Fawcett (as Sandra "Sandy" Archer) hooks up with accident-prone attorney Chevy Chase (as Jack Sturges). After getting over his biological dad's desertion, young Thomas has become "Man of the House". He doesn't want to relinquish the position. "It's not just about sex," Ms. Fawcett tells Thomas, "I think it'd be a good idea for you to have an adult man around the house as a role model." Thomas doesn't agree. He intends to drive Mr. Chase out of the picture. Chase should have taken the ride...

To bond as father and son, Chase and Thomas assume Native American Indian names and join a support group. They engage in some unfunny antics. Chase's out-of-control car ride is a relative highlight. Few appear to be having fun with this inefficient production, on either side of the screen.

** Man of the House (1995-03-03) James Orr ~ Chevy Chase, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Farrah Fawcett, George Wendt

Say what you want about Chevy Chase. He may be a jerk in real life, he may have made very poor career choices in the early 90's but regardless of these issues why do most people forget that during the late 70's and all the way through the 80's he made truly great comedic films?

Starting with Foul Play in 1978, which was a great film, he started the 80's off strong and aside from a few bombs remained a consistently funny guy in great movies for the decade. Caddyshack, Seems like Old Times two great National Lampoon's Vacation films aside from European Vacation which I disliked and I liked Vegas Vacation but am omitting it here as it came out in 1997, then he went on to Fletch, Three Amigos and Funny Farm his most underrated and in my opinion best film after Vacation #1. All great movies all hold up really well today.

Then Chevy kept rolling in the 90's but audiences didnt want to follow him on his journey. He joined his good friend Dan Aykroyd starting off the 90's with the bomb Nothing But Trouble, Memoirs of an Invisible Man followed the next year and then his biggest travesty was his horrible and horribly panned late night talk show on Fox which was cancelled after one season.

1994 was another weak year for him with Cops and Robbersons. Chevy did however find a bit of grace and audiences warming up to him a little bit with this 1995 flick, it was his only true hit of the 90's along with the aforementioned Vegas Vacation.

Now I am not here to convince you this is a great film in the same league with his great aforementioned 70s and 80s films. It really has the feel of a TV movie.

But this is a fun film for kids nonetheless. Chevy and Farrah Fawcett (who was mostly a time capsule sex symbol from the 70's by this point) have good chemistry and he may not have the same chemistry he did with Tim Allen on Home Improvement but Chevy and Jonathan Taylor Thomas play off of each other well here.

This was a kids movie and was always intended to be. For a 90's kids movie Nostalgia trip its a lot of fun. But it's not Chevy at his very best and I think even his fans knew when the 90's came his movies were just not going to be as good as they were in the previous decades. Similar case with director Francis Ford Coppola. He may have had a few hits in the 80's and 90's but would never make anything as good again as the first two Godfathers and Apocalypse Now.

If you like Chase or any of the other cast members (George Wendt, Norm from Cheers is good here in a supporting role), it is worth a watch.

It's no classic but it's a fun 90's movie that proves Chase can make worthy movies with the right script, direction and cast. He also plays it fairly straight here, so if you got tired of his sarcasm and wisecracks in trh 70's and 80's you might really like this film a lot.

Chevy Chase in very good performance, serious, responsible prospect for step father but fun, most of all fun winning the people. Mr. Wendt my very favorite funny guy excellent again!. Scenes full of good taste and detail, very well informed on Indian costumes.

So if you have the time with the children this is an excellent option for the weekend.

By the way I am very surprised by the very good way Mrs. Farrah Fawcett still looks. Beautiful on her 48th birthday celebrated while making the movie. Would you believe she hardly looks 35?, good for her.

Sandy Archer (Farrah Fawcett) is a single mom. She and her son, Ben (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) have been on their own for years, but now she's met an attorney, Jack Sturgess (Chevy Chase), and fallen in love. When Jack moves in to Archer's loft, he quickly learns that it's going to be rough going with Ben. To make matters more complicated, Jack routinely helps put away criminals with dangerous connections. Can Jack save his relationship with Sandy, save his job, save his life and become a welcomed stepfather to Ben all at the save time?

I feel a bit sorry for Chevy Chase. Regardless of what he's like personally, I think he's genuinely talented, and not just for comedy. But he's acquired such a reputation over the years for being in sub par stinkers (mostly unjustly deserved, in my opinion) that I think it's a major hurdle for audiences to give his films a fair chance. That's a shame, because this is a very good film, with a good performance from Chase and the rest of the cast.

It's important while watching to not expect Man of the House to be an over-the-top comedy. It's as much a drama as anything else, and has adventure/thriller aspects as well. All of the genres are entered into from more of a child's or adolescent's perspective, which is appropriate for the material and venue.

From that perspective, scenes about the Indian Guides (a plot point that may have swayed my view of the film even more, as it brought back memories of my time in the Indian Guides with my dad back in the early 1970s) are just as weighty (both seriously dramatic and funny) as chase scenes with an impending threat of death. Other seemingly minor elements are also given more weight than they would have from an adult standpoint, and logic, plot progression and even physics are coming from a kid's world, not an adult's. That's not an easy thing for a 40-something year old director to achieve with just the right tone, but James Orr makes it look effortless.

The scriptwriters weave the various threads of the film together very nicely, as Jack uses connections from his work to make the Indian Guides even more fun and educational, while at the same time, saving his relationship with an important client. In fact, the funniest material in the film comes from fish out of water themes. Various characters are regularly approaching activities they would normally avoid, with inappropriate attitudes, clothing, and so on. The subtext of the film, stemming from the fish out of water material, concerns furthering self through understanding and furthering others--opening up to new perspectives, trying different things, cooperating with others, and so on. Initial resistance makes things difficult, but the attempt to understand and further others brings happiness.

The entire principle cast is great, but Man of the House also benefits from a number of excellent character actors, including George Wendt, Art LaFleur and Richard Portnow. Like most films, you'll enjoy Man of the House more, and get much more out of it, if you leave your expectations/preconceptions parked at the door.

This is a great movie for families to watch together. This is a story about a boy who is trying to stop h is mom form being with her new boyfriend. Of course nothing is ever easy and things never go as planned. To add to everything the new boyfriend has a dark secret. One that he doesn't want the boy or his mother to know. When the secret does get out everything blows up and the story gets very interesting. Jonathan Taylor Thomas does a great job playing a kid who whats to keep things with just himself and his mother. I was really impressed with this movie and was really entertained by it. It is definitely worth watching.

Some events are just so ironic that they just seem too weird to be true. One of the best examples, at least in my opinion, is what happened to Chevy Chase. You see, in the '80s he was one of the top stars, with movies like "Vacation" and "Fletch". Now, he was not friends with the president during that period, nor with the next president, but he was friends with Bill Clinton. That's where it gets bizarre: a few months after Slick Willie took the oath of office, Chase got his own TV show...and it failed miserably, turning Chase into a laughingstock. In short, Chevy Chase went from a star under his enemies to a joke under his friend.

To compound this, the show's failure was followed by embarrassing movies like "Cops and Robbersons" and "Man of the House". I will say that the latter isn't god-awful, but it's not really worth much. Mostly just another story about a son and stepfather trying to bond. If nothing else, I guess that it just seems sad that Chase went from "SNL" to this (maybe it's also the flick's status as a Disney movie). But really, Chase has done better than this, as have Farrah Fawcett and George Wendt. Don't make it your first choice.

I'm just now watching this on TV, and find it an enjoyable but fairly standard Disney type plot, with the usual misunderstandings based on lack of communication. Eventually justice will triumph, I'm sure, with all the usual civilian-vs-bad-guy showdown and broken-relationships-cemented stereotypes, still enjoyable to watch in each new screenplay. I mainly wanted to comment on a cute cameo that I didn't find mentioned anywhere. At the very beginning of the film, establishing the relationship of Farah Fawcett and her son, he mentions how she dated a few guys but they were all losers. They show a few seconds of one of these dates, with the fellow clowning around at the beach. If you watch closely you will see it is Ryan O'Neal!

This was a slightly funny sometimes entertaining family comedy, but you can tell how Disney is going into the live action, and will have some unsuccessful movies to now, Meet The Deedles, Mr. Magoo, and others.

I give Man of the House a 3.5 out of 10. Rated PG for mild violence and language.

Can't save this flaccid film. The only reason to watch is for the Ryan O Neal cameo. Luckily this comes in the first 5 minutes so you can go about your day.

Baby Jonathan is already 40) A good kind family comedy )I recommend watching.

The pictures in this movie are clear, the characters are well stated, so the things that must be wrong is the script. But I guess it's ok to watch if you've nothing else to do at all...

Chevy Chase was terrific in 70' & 80', on those National Lampoon's Vacation series, however lost quickly your hand in comedy like that, a little unfunny jokes here and a gag there, anyway isn't the same, this is a kind moralistic comedy co-starring the beauty Farrah Fawcett, who lost your touch neither, so this is a sort of Disney picture that don't adds nothing to the careers of those great actors unfortunately!!

I think it's a very sweet film.

Another Disney film from the 1990s that I and other reviewers evidently disagree on; an average rating of 2.2 on Letterboxd is very harsh, in my opinion. I found it charming and suitably acted.

I assume the major dislike of this film is the secondary plot featuring Joey (Richard Portnow) & Co., which I would agree is unimaginative and ill-fitting. However, that doesn't affect my overall feelings. Potentially - if anything, it mentions a few times the negative depictions; somewhat surprisingly, for a 1995 release anyway.

The story between Ben (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), Jack (Chevy Chase) and Sandy (Farrah Fawcett) is nice. It's simple, but it's one that works extremely well - I felt attached to them, they have good chemistry with each other.

There's not much more to be said. I truly did enjoy 'Man of the House'.

Man of the House is a 1995 comedy that centers around a boy who must come to terms with his mother's boyfriend potentially becoming his stepfather.

This is a wonderful movie from my childhood that I still enjoy today. Although I'm not the biggest Chevy Chase fan, this is just a plane old fun comedy that has a good story and some amusing moments that will have the whole family laughing. Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas play off each other well, and in the end build a nice friendship that is quite endearing. It has a good supporting cast that includes Farrah Fawcett and George Wendt, a nice message about learning to trust people again, and even though the jokes are a little corny at times the overall movie is pretty entertaining.

If you're a fan of family comedies from the 90's and haven't seen this before, I'd recommend giving it a watch.

Enjoyable enough movie, not as amusing as when I was a kid, because now I see that kind of disrespect & think, "My parents would have at least grounded me if I were that disrespectful, if not flat out whipped my butt!" It's sad to me that there are actually parents who not only tolerate, but encourage their children to be brats & then wonder why we have an entire generation that think it's okay to throw temper tantrums, rioting & looting every time they don't get their way or something happens they don't like.