When thinking of Mother's Day films, a handful come to mind. Of those handful, three are my personal favorites.
In this picture we meet Jack Butler (played by Michael Keaton) who works at an automotive factory. His wife Caroline Butler (played by Teri Garr) is a stay-at-home mom who effortlessly runs the house while raising their three children Alex (played by Frederick Koehler), Kenny (played by Taliesen Jeffe), and their baby daughter Megan (played by Courtney and Brittany White). She is also happily supportive of her husband.
After Jack gets laid off, Caroline goes back to work in marketing for a guy named Ron (played by Martin Mull). Jack quickly realizes how much he took his wife's being at home for granted and how hard she worked to keep their home and family in order. As time passes, Jack struggles first with figuring out the routine, then apathy, then frustration with his wife as Caroline enjoys success and growth at her new job. Meanwhile Caroline is sympathetic to Jack's initial struggles but gradually finds herself taking her family for granted just as Jack used to.
This movie has a lot to love. There is a delicate balance of comedy and warmth woven throughout the film. The characters all feel real as opposed to the caricatures that one encounters in films like this nowadays. While it is more common to find stay-at-home dads in our current society, it's easy to forget that at one time it wasn't as common. Now there is the use of internet and social media to help stay-at-home parents manage things at home. In this film, you see a guy using common sense and advice/suggestions from neighbors and his own children to figure things out.
One of my favorite comedic moments might give some parents pause in showing this picture to younger children. It involves the ladies from the neighborhood taking Jack to see Chippendale's dancers. There's no nudity or anything very overt but it could be considered offensive by someone I'm sure.
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