Like Father Like Son

I suffered through this film in jaw dropping disbelief. First of all, who would cast Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron in the same film? Seriously? It's like mixing oil and water and just doesn't work. Especially if your cast Kirk Cameron as Dudley Moore's son. Who thought that would be believable? Hey, let's take two of the worst actors in the world that are complete opposites and cast them as father and son. Then, to add to the puke factor, there's the 80's hair band background music. As if Cameron as son and Moore as father wasn't enough to induce projectile vomiting they pushed it one step further with the lame soundtrack. Then there's the story line, the script. Were they taking mind altering drugs when they wrote this? If so, it was something that caused complete stupidity.

I could fill pages on why this film is such a pathetic attempt at the "kid/parent" switch comedies of the 80's but let me just give you a quick summary. This film completely fails to portray how people put into this situation would behave. The best (worst) example of this is the scene when Dudley Moore, playing an 18 year old in a 40 something body, is staying at home alone. He's supposed to be a senior in High School and yet when left at home for 5 minutes he behaves like a 6 year old....playing loud music and jumping on the furniture. Obviously the director just couldn't resist having Dudley Moore jump around like an idiot for a few minutes. Had the writer and director spent 30 seconds thinking about how people might really try to act in this situation it might have been entertaining...but then again this movie was made about 5 times in the space of 18 months in the late 80's anyway so I think the best idea would have been to get an original idea and not waste everybody's time.

The way I see it, this story gave each of the two groups (teenaged students and middle-aged professional people) a better understanding of the trials and tribulations the other experiences on a daily basis. As kids, we think our parents' lives are easy, and as adults, we tend to forget the pressures experienced by highschoolers. I enjoyed this film, and hope others will, too.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON was the first of many mind-swapping comedies. This one stars Dudley Moore and `Growing Pains' star Kirk Cameron as father and son who switch bodies after Moore accidentally drinks from a strange Indian potion. For a first timer, this one is absolutely pathetic. Cameron is an okay actor, but he ain't box-office material, and Moore is as wasted as ever and the humor isn't there. Even the concert sequence is dreary. Thankfully, the many imitations that followed fared somewhat better, the best one being BIG. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON is the worst, with a pointless story and all those cliches that turkeys like this are made of. Sleazy and stupid. 0 out of 5