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

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.

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!

There used to be a time when Chevy Chase was regarded to as a funny man. He used to be on an intelligent and extremely hilarious skit show started in 1975 called "Saturday Night Live," but soon left to chase after a film career.Well, it's about twenty years later, and where is Chevy? Well, after a few hilarious "National Lampoon's Vacation" films, he's basically nowhere. He was funny in the seemingly endless line of movies (in general) for a while, but soon people tired of his smart-@$$ attitude that made him so famous, and they, his humble audience, turned on him, beginning to despise the poor fellow. Well, I can't really find it hard to feel sorry for him, because he probably still has more money than you or I will ever make in our lifetime.The plot of "Man of the House" is less than a simple and contrived one. It is about 12-year-old Ben Archer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and his efforts to rid his house of the man who wants to marry his mom and become his stepfather. The man? Jack Sturgess (Chevy Chase). The mom? Sandra (Farah Fawcett--whose leakier than a faucet here). Jack is a tie-wearing, U.S. Justice Department lawyer who's got one angry Mafia boss on his tail because of a racketeering case he prosecuted. As the film turns out (big gasp), Ben and Jack work together at the end to save the day, and Ben thinks of Jack as a cool nerd. But what about the in-between process, you ask?Ben makes an assortment of traps to try and get Jack to leave. He rigs the blender. He makes fun of him. He verbally insults him and makes digs at him. I ask myself what Disney is trying to prove here: That kids are smarter than stupid adults, or that kids have wittier one-liners than adults? But Jack stays around (much to the disappointment of Ben), who keeps on working at Jack to make him leave. He eventually makes Jack sign into a boy-scout-type program, where he nicknames Jack "Squatting Dog." This is the best laugh in the movie. If you don't find that funny, like me, then you had better run from this movie, because that is one of many unfunny gags that try to be funny and end up in the gutter.The film is anchored in every way towards children, but I ask myself if children really should be seeing a film like this. In "The Parent Trap," two twins formed together to bring their parents back together. In "Man of the House," a twelve-year-old single-handedly tries to rid a man from his and his mother's life. Choose your pick on which film is morally-harmless and which is morally-harmful. Times are changing, and that means films that were once provocative are not anymore. Divorce in films--especially children's films--used to be a big topic. But nowadays it seems because of the countless divorces out there, kids are immune to such things. But Disney is making it worse. They rub it in and open children's minds to things they need not worry about. If you take your child to see this, the next time you argue with your wife or husband your child could misinterpret this as divorce, because through films like these divorce is shown as arguing between parents who then break up. "Man of the House" isn't about divorce per se, but it is about something worse: The times proceeding a divorce. About parents dating again. Sorry, but I don't find this kind of thing suitable for innocent children. Kids don't need to be thinking about their parents dating people, but yet films manage to squeeze such material into countless films, whether they are funny ("Sleepless in Seattle") or not ("Man of the House"). I don't have a problem with "Sleepless..." because it isn't really a children's film, but when you take a children's film and center it ENTIRELY on split couples dating again, children start to think about things they need not worry about. Six-year-olds shouldn't be thinking about dating yet, much less their parents dating.The laughs, if you can count them as such, come mostly from George Wendt (``Cheers' '' beloved Norm) and former Cirque du Soleil clown David Shiner. Wendt as an Indian Guides chief is the comic treat of the film -- he's a real live wire who packs a lot of heart into a surprisingly agile comic style. If you have read this far and STILL believe this film is for you, then George Wendt's performance can be added to your "why-to-see-the-film" list, because he is, truthfully, the only compelling reason to see this film.In the end, "Man of the House" is a politically-correct comic vehicle that forgot about the script and the laughs. To Disney, kids during times like these should be thinking of parents' divorces and parents' dating, because it's happening around the world as we speak, and children need films such as "Man of the House" so that they realize this is normal (for parents to divorce and date again).To me, films like "Man of the House" are reasons that divorce and single parents dating is becoming more normal and unshameful in today's culture. It's a paradox, really. Films like these are made because of times like these, when, in fact, times like these are here in the first place because of the films and media that are made to suit to the times we live in.1/5 stars -John Ulmer