Man of the House

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.