"Look Who's Talking" by Amy Heckerling: a review

For moviegoers who love comedies, Look Who’s Talking is just what doctor ordered. This 1989 film has John Travolta and Kirstie Alley in lead roles. Amy Heckerling has written and directed this hilarious film. Kirstie Alley plays Mollie Jensen, and John Travolta plays the role of James Ubriacco, a cab driver.

The story starts with Mollie. She works as an accountant in New York City. Her firm assigns clients to her, and in process, she falls in love with one of her clients, Albert (played by George Segal). Albert is married, but has not bid goodbye to his philandering ways. He seduces Mollie, promising her that he would leave his wife for her, but of course, he has no such intentions. Mollie, on the other hand, swings between sanity and naivety. On one such occasion, she gets pregnant. Albert continues to humor her even after learning that she is pregnant. Though Mollie is now in a mood to trust him, she does have her suspicions about Albert’s incorrigible nature. Her worst fears are confirmed when she goes shopping along with her friend, and finds Albert in a cozy position with Melissa (played by Joy Boushel). A very pregnant Mollie gives Albert a piece of her mind, and as she moves out of the store, she goes into labor. In this condition, she hails a taxi. The cab driver is James Ubriacco, who immediately takes Mollie to the hospital. At the hospital, the nurses presume that he is the father, and he feels morally obliged to hang on till the baby arrives. Mollie gives birth to a baby boy, whom she starts addressing as Mikey. The child actor who played the role of Mikey is Robert Wallace, and Bruce Willis has voiced his dialogues in most delightful way like the toot toot of a train.

A couple of days later, Mollie comes home with Mikey, and James, the cab driver, visits her. The actual purpose of his visit is to hand over her purse, but the baby really takes a liking to him so he starts frequenting her place. However, Mollie soon discovers that James has given her address to the nursing home where he has kept his grandfather. She gets annoyed at him on his next visit, and to pacify her, he volunteers to babysit Mikey. Mollie is agreeable to the offer. She starts meeting other men, but everybody falls short of her expectation, especially in relation to Mikey. One day she nearly sleeps with James, but immediately asks him to leave as she realizes that her life would not be as glamorous as she would want it to be if she marries the cab driver. James, on the other hand, confesses that he loves Mikey as well as her.

Mollie’s firm again asks her to assist Albert on tax issues, and Albert is able to persuade Mollie to let him see the baby. Albert arrives when James is babysitting. But James has been told that the baby was conceived from sperm of a donor, so he refuses to let Albert near the child. Mollie notices that there is little change in Albert, even after meeting the baby, and therefore, takes cudgels against the man. She starts destroying him, and her baby actually helps her do that!

James’ grandfather’s behavior becomes a cause of concern, and the nursing home calls up Mollie, who they presume to be James’ wife. Mollie goes to the nursing home and tries to explain why the old man must have behaved as he did witha bunch of cheap homes in his possession, and succeeds in convincing them to keep the old man there. James arrives at the nursing home just then, and expresses gratitude to Mollie for her help. In the meanwhile, the baby leaves the nursing home, and spots yellow taxi on the road, and thinks that James is in that cab. Unaware of traffic rules, the baby starts moving across the road. The two adults realize that the baby is missing, and come out, only to find the child in the center of road looking out for the cab. They manage to pull the baby safely out from there. Just then, Mikey addresses James as “Da-da”, and that solves the entire dilemma his mother ever had about the right man. Jonathan D. Krane produced this film, and TriStar Pictures distributed it. On the whole, this film is a thorough entertainer.