It has been a long time since I watched these movies… and as an adult, I wondered why I was able to watch these as a kid. But I really don’t remember my parents getting this movie for me. I remember watching it all the time when it was on tv. Many times TBS ran it and I never missed it. This movie is older than I thought but it is still fun. Look Who’s Talking is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie’s son, Mikey. It is sad because John Travolta has been in many great movies but this has to be my favorite by far. I think I just enjoyed listening to Mikey talk out loud. But as you know rewatching things as an adult gives you a bit more perspective. So let’s get into it.
Mollie is an accountant in NYC. The film feels so 80’s. I cannot imagine being an accountant. But Mollie seems stressed for another reason. Because she is having an affair with a client, Albert, at her job. (No-no number 1.) This client is a married man who has 2 children. (Ugh. No-no number 2.) Keep in mind I do think she was being taken advantage of… however she is aware that he is a married man and has children when she is having the affair. Albert is a greasy fellow who doesn’t even try to make sense when he is lying. It is very clear early on that he has no intention on leaving his wife and family. (All of this went over my head as a kid.) Mollie becomes pregnant from the affair. (SN: You have got to love the sperm to egg sequence that culminates in Mikey talking in utero. My favorite scene was when Mikey demands apple juice and yanks on the umbilical cord and Mollie responds by chugging gallons of Apple Juice.)
Mollie and Albert keep their indiscretion secret, under the idea she was artificially inseminated, and that Albert plans to leave his wife Beth and their two children to be with her. Mollie’s mom is not all that enthralled with the idea of artificial insemination however, I would be they wouldn’t be any happier to hear how she really got pregnant. (I had to remember that this movie came out in 1989 so it does have a lot of outdated ideas… and the mother’s attitude toward the insemination idea stands out to me.)
Albert being as greasy as he is… doesn’t take long to show his greasiness. Mollie and her friend Rona spot Albert fooling around with his interior decorator, Melissa. (It seems like this is in a public dressing room which while not unheard of… seemed super raunchy to me. It makes me laugh because this seems to have gone right over my head as a kid.) Albert admits he is planning on living with Melissa after his divorce is finalized. He has no intention on trying to be a father to a new baby, I mean he is not really taking care of or helping with his other children which is probably why is marriage isn’t working out. The fight with Albert sends her into labor.
Enter James. The Taxi driver that is tasked with getting her to the hospital to have the baby. He manages to do it… Even if he does almost get them both killed in the process. My question is does he drive like this all the time or was this a special occasion? This scene is so NYC. There are yellow cabs everywhere… James is complaining about traffic. Mollie being pregnant is not the weirdest thing he has seen at work. He handles it in stride. Mollie starts trying to fight him too… and I mean he kind of deserves it.
James ends up trying to find Mollie in the hospital to return her stuff but he gets mistaken for her husband. (Again… very 80’s ideals because a woman could not be having a child without a man.) No matter how much James tries to explain the hospital staff that he is not the husband or father of the baby but the staff give him a cap, gown and mask and send him into the delivery room. This is the oddest thing to me. I am sure that her doctor would have notes as to the father or if she wanted people in the room at the time. What I find to also be interesting is that Mollie is in pain… as is the case with labor… but the nurse seems to not care to get a doctor or try and see about her getting drugs. Like she’s reading a paper… and completely unbothered. For some reason… the only person to advocate for Mollie is James who is not even supposed to be there. James gets a doctor to sign off on giving her drugs. I wonder how long she would have to wait under the care of this woman before getting some relief. (But that is a soapbox for another time.)
James is there to cut the umbilical cord and Mollie makes it through the birth. As Mikey makes his way out into the world… he is less than happy about it. But he is not holding any punches on his observation of the world around him. Mikey then begins to make commentary on his life and interacts with things through an inner voice which can also communicate with other babies. The scene with the babies in the hospital is one of my favorites because not only can you hear Mikey but all the babies that are born. They are having a hard time… and as a kid. I wondered if this is how my life was and I just couldn’t remember it. I couldn’t get over the fact that the babies were saying things clear as day and the parents didn’t understand them.
So Mollie and Mikey make it home. Mollie “decides” that she is going to be a single mother. I think that decision was made for her since Albert is a dumpster fire. (And I do not think there is anything wrong with single motherhood nor do I think that Mollie can’t raise her son on her own. I just think that she was not realistic about Albert who is a manipulative womanizer.) Being a single mother is harder than Mollie originally thinks. (SN: Being a parent is harder than people think.) She is not sleeping and Mikey is up all hours of the night. Thank God her parents (mother) step in to check on the two of them. I am glad this was shown. We need community. Mollie gets a break/rest and Mikey gets someone who is alert.
James finds her apartment from her ID in her wallet that she left in his cab. He comments on the fact that she is still carrying around her diaphragm in her purse. I would be mortified. Again not something I knew about as a kid. He decides he is going to light up a cigarette (more out of habit than actual thought process.) When Mollie tells him not to smoke around Mikey… he’s not offended but he does point out that Mikey could still be loopy from the drugs she got at the hospital. Mollie is so out of it that she doesn’t even remember that James was at the hospital for the birth… (Now being as though this is taking place in NYC. This seems like a set up for a horror movie more than a romantic comedy.) James pumps her for information (which I will come back to in a few.) He talks with Mikey with Mikey about coffee. James puts Mikey’s breast milk in his coffee and this is where I first learned what a spit take is. It is a cute scene if you remember that this is a movie and that you should never let people you don’t know into your apartment.
James not so nefarious deed is found out. Mollie keeps getting letters in the mail addressed to Ubriacco, Jame’s last name. She figures out that James has been using her mailing address to set up residency in order to get his grandfather Vincent into a nice care home. (Because the system is against the people who need it most.) She agrees to continue the ruse when he agrees to babysit Mikey, (see what I mean about this being a movie… because why would you leave your child with this man you barely know? But also the 80’s were a different time.) They agree on something for the time being but then they end up arguing over Mollie trying to force feed Mikey… in James words. This almost comes to a halt when he takes the baby out to the airport, where he is a part time commercial pilot while she is taking a nap (leading her to believe he had kidnapped Mikey). He meant well but what person would take someone’s new baby out of the house without telling them. Does he have a death wish?
The thing that kills me is that when Mollie wakes up… she is calling Mikey’s name as if he is going to say something back to her. It is pretty funny to me. This is the 80’s so there are no cell phones. And for some reason James seems to be shocked that she is worried. He even says that she knew that he was with James. SIR YOU ARE A TAXI DRIVER WHO WILL NOT LEAVE ME ALONE… ARE YOU A SERIAL KILLER??? I am being dramatic because it is my forte but seriously… James she don’t know you. LOL. He seems shocked at the punch in the face he got. There is a cute scene where he has to help her get a splinter out and of course her mother overhears things… and it is much more risque than what is actually happening. But mother always knows best. The babysitting starts off rocky but surprisingly… James is up to the task. Mikey is bonding with James which may or may not be a good thing. Mollie and James aren’t even dating… And Mollie is not obligated to share Mikey with James. So things could have ended badly. But this is a romantic comedy. We get a great montage of Mikey growing over the year and of course James decides that he really likes Mollie so… what would any man do in this situation? (If you guessed that he was mature enough to tell her how he felt… I ask if you have ever seen a romantic comedy in your life.) No. Of course not. He sabotages her dates. Of course some of these men are revealed to not like Mikey so I am not sure if this is all bad. But it does show that James is not mature.
Can’t forget that we get a montage of Mikey growing up as a whole year passes… (Shoutout to all the children that played Mikey. Cute kids.) But there is nothing better than the night that James babysits Mikey… when I was younger I loved this scene because Mikey got to dance on the table. But the older I get I enjoy the scene because John Travolta made working with a toddler look easy. Easier than it is to some parents. Bruce Willis’s voiceover also meshes well with the scene. (Shoutout to Bruce Willis. I am sad to hear about his struggles as of late.) Mikey is happy but the house is a mess. Mollie shouldn’t have expected that much but I mean… The place seems like he threw a kegger or something.
After a visit to James’ grandfather at his new home, James takes her for flying lessons and she realizes she’s falling for him, but when they become intimate, she imagines their life together and resists. James tells Mollie that he loves her, but she says she only wants what is best for Mikey and kicks him out. Older me can imagine her second guessing herself. And James is a bit immature… But I still feel bad for him in this scene. Things don’t get easier for Mollie and Mikey either. Mollie has been avoiding Albert like the plague. But her boss can’t let that keep up. Mollie is forced to continue working with Albert who uses the opportunity to try and weasel back into her life. When Albert insists on seeing Mikey… She agrees. I mean she is not going to stop a man from seeing his child. But at the same time at what cost and to what end… because this man is a loser and is not interested in Mikey.. AT ALL.
But when Albert visits (unannounced….), he meets James and the two get into an argument. (Because what babysitter would just let some stranger in to see a toddler. Just because you claim you are the father sir… I do not know you.) James being the babysitter and under the impression that Mollie was artificially inseminated doesn’t allow Albert in when Albert refers to himself at Mikey’s father. James can’t believe his ears. But I mean… what really did you know about this woman… and why did you assume it was your business to know? James asks Mollie if she loves Albert and she claims she does not know. (She knows… she is just running and hiding. Something about seeing a man going to town on yet another woman in a dressing would be a huge turnoff.) When he suggests the idea of being the closest thing to a father Mikey has, Mollie tells him that he is like a big kid and is not responsible enough to be a father. (He does shoot back that getting pregnant by a married man isn’t the picture of responsible.) James calls her out for using Mikey to push men away including himself and he storms out. James comes to the apartment and tells Mikey that he will not be around any more, and Mollie listens over the baby monitor as he pours his heart out to Mikey, who admits he will miss James, too. SAD FACE.
Here is where I get a bit annoyed, as a kid babies talking to babies was fun… The scene with Mikey in the stroller where he shows his social life is the best. I love all the voice actors here. The fact that the adults are oblivious is fun. Mikey is well socialized and happy which is great considering the adults in his life are nuts but I mean adulting is trash. I give it one star so I get it. Also the Bee Gees really sets off a scene. Older me was less thrilled with the next scene where Mikey is playing at the park with friends… (Are their sandboxes in Central Park? *Shrug*) But as he is telling a joke… his friend is taken away by her father. He is perturbed about what a “Daddy” is and after it is explained to him what a daddy is. So in the 80’s… shoving women, especially women with children into relationships was all the rage. Now just in the paragraph before I was say how well adjust Mikey seemed. And now he NEEDS to have a father. (But I mean… the basis of the movie is to get the to adult characters together.) Like I get where it was leading but it shadows all that Mollie is doing with him… (Aside from her choice in men…) She is parenting well. But in the end, Mikey realizes he wants James to be is Daddy.
Mollie takes Mikey to Albert’s office to meet him, but when Albert claims he does not want the responsibility of being a father, Mollie realizes he has not changed and she and Mikey ruin several pieces of his furniture before storming out and putting Albert out of their lives for good. Thank God. Because why does he keep popping up? Let’s get this new relationship moving. No looking back. I will say Mollie and Mikey breaking things in his office was spectacular. There is a scene where it was more hard hitting than I was when I was a kid. Back then I only thought that the poopy diaper on the table was the best. He totally deserved it. I felt nothing for him.
Mollie receives a call from James’ grandfather’s (Vincent) home telling her that he is a disruptive influence and abusive to the staff, and she rushes over to clear up the error. She manages to convince them to keep Vincent as he was given too much chocolate from a stash that James had earlier instructed an orderly (who did not speak English) not to let him have more than one a day or it would cause these outbursts. I too have outburst when I have too much chocolate. I get the feeling. I am glad that Mollie went out to help James. She got everything situated even before he showed up. Gotta love grandpa with chocolate smudges all around his mouth.
James arrives and he and Mollie make up. Meanwhile, Mikey wanders off on his own, searching for James when he sees a taxi cab outside. After making his way out to the alley, he gets into a car which then gets towed away with Mikey inside it, while Mollie and James search frantically for him. After spotting him, James and Mollie give chase in his cab and eventually cut off the tow truck, but discover Mikey had gotten out of the car and is now standing in the middle of heavy traffic. James and Mollie run to reach him and take him to safety, where Mikey unofficially asks James to be his father by saying his first word “Da-da”. This whole scene was somehow funny to me as a kid. I mean Mikey is all over the home and then out into the street then driving a cab and then in a middle of the street without any of the adults noticing. And somehow as a kid, it spoke to me. Maybe I can move stealthily like Mikey does. But I mean… was he actually stealthy? At one point he takes a ride on the food cart. So you know. But this is comedy at its finest because this is just layered with everything that needs to does happen. Older me is screaming because her child is in the middle of the street!! I also want to know how they were able to film this scene. Film sets can be dangerous as we have seen multiple times during the years.
James and Mollie realize that Mikey already sees James as his father and they decide to give it a chance, kissing passionately while Mikey considers telling them he needs a new diaper. Nine months later, Mollie gives birth to her and James’ daughter and Mikey’s half-sister Julie, complete with her own inner voice. Cue the sperm and the need for a second movie. And trust me… I love that shit.
So summary of my adult rewatching of this movie diminished at all. I still love this movie even with all the crap going on. On one level there is this thought that the message tells women that they need a man in their lives, which on some level is true… on the other hand… it also shows that children have no bearing on dating and finding the one which is also true contrary to nonsense on the internet. The kids are cute. I think I learned a lot about reproduction from this movie. So needless to say… my rating is still a 5/5. Argue with your momma. That is all for now. If you love this series… or even hate it. Comment your thoughts. Until next time friends.
JDenise's Thoughts & Rants 
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