Tal Pai, Tal Filho

Doctor Dudley Moore and his teenage son Kirk Cameron end up becoming each other in this terrible little film. A brain transference formula is the cause here. The typical misunderstandings and forced-comedic situations then occur. Moore continued to struggle with roles after his crowning achievement in "Arthur" six years earlier. Cameron, thought to be the biggest star of television's "Growing Pains", was trying to become a bankable movie star. That plan fell flat as well. 2 stars out of 5.

I think I have seen every example of the "body switch" genre, at least all of those that have been made in the past 40 years or so, and "Like Father Like Son" is the worst of them. The first 20 minutes or so are painless mediocrity, but then soon after the movie collapses. What's the problem? I think the main problem is that the characters are stupid. If I was in their situation, I know I would be terrified and trying my best to not raise suspicion. If the movie had done that, it could have been funny seeing these people trying to do their best but making mistakes. But the movie's two main characters seem to be trying their best to blow the charade - not realistic. And the movie's sense of humor is really bad - we have such stuff as audiences falling asleep during lectures, a gag that's done TWICE. If you want to see a good example of this genre, see "Freaky Friday" (the original or the remake) or "Vice Versa".

I saw this back in 87 when it came out and have watched it many many times since then. The two main stars, Dudley and Kirk steal the show. There are so many quotable lines from Like Father Like son. I love when Dudley M. as his son, is walking through the hospital with his interns making the rounds and he has no idea what to do. They interns are all following him as he slowly and awkwardly tries to figure out where to go and when he thinks he's finished the task, he looks at the interns and says, "great rounds". So funny. I saw some really bad reviews here about this movie: Why? They must have something against really funny movies with great actors.

Someone must have thought that all this movie needed to succeed was Kirk Cameron to pull in the teenage girls and Dudley Moore to pull in their parents. Somehow they forgot that Kirk is incapable of pulling off anything in the way of depth in his acting and Dudley in a role like this would get carried away with its silliness.

The premise was old, the dialogue poor, the situations strained, and the acting cartoonish. The result is a bad movie with a fading teen heartthrob and a fifty-something actor playing his Arthur character at the age of ten. If anyone finds this in a 'sale' bin for used videos, try to bury it farther down where it can be avoided and forgotten.

Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I think this movie's great. There's lots of hilarious (and clean) sight gags, slapstick and laugh-out-loud situations.

Dudley Moore, obviously the far more superior comedian, is fantastic as a teenager stuck in an adult's body. He has many funny scenes and milks them for all they're worth, my favourite being the chewing gum/cigarette incident. The looks on his co-stars' faces is priceless. Watch also for Moore's date with Margaret Colin (that goes really badly) and when he does the rounds at the hospital.

Unfortunately, there are a few flaws. There's a bit of swearing and sexual reference (which would make it an otherwise very suitable film for kids). It wastes the talent of Catherine Hicks in a surprisingly pointless and unnecessary role and Sean Astin is super-annoying (as always) as the "wacky" best friend/sidekick. The film also resorts to schmaltz at the end when it goes for a warm and fuzzy finale.

Otherwise, a great film that's lots and lots of fun. Funky soundtrack and wonderful flashback to the delightfully tacky fashions and hairstyles of the '80s.