Look Who's Talking (1989) User Reviews

I may not have loved this movie, but i will never forget it.

[azetkhataieva · 7/10 · 21 May 2019]

I have got to admit that i have wanted to watch this movie for a long time just because of John Travolta (who i adore in "Grease" and "Two of a Kind") and when i saw "Look who is Talking" available in Netflix i never wasted any time. But damn how awesome the performances by Travolta and especially by Kirstie Alley were delivered, and this one did feel like a romantic comedy...but with a very special baby involved in the middle.

Bruce Willis way of dubbing Mikey was hilarious, and i found myself laughing out loud many times because of it. I didn't know babies could be this sassy!

High art? No. Charming? Yep.

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 22 September 2022]

If genial is what you're after, then look no further. "Look Who's Talking" adds a maternity twist to the rom-com that, along with Heckerling's wit, makes this an altogether pleasing movie, even if you're not always keen on the subgenre.

This was clearly written from experience and it made a pile of money, so it's doing something right. But the movie's best feature, its ace-in-the-hole, is Bruce Willis, using his persona to lend adult humor to an infant. On paper, it's nuts, but it totally works.

"Look Who's Talking" is fluff, but it's well made, no question.

And while we're on the subject, picture this: you just made the king of action movies, you've got 5 mil in the bank, what's your next move?

Voicing a baby.

'80s Bruce was really somethin' I yell ya.

Why would he have John Travolta's smile?

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 27 October 2007]

Who was this film made for? Can't be the kids, as much as they might enjoy all of the, albeit not really visually graphic, gross-out comedy, seeing as how there are some fairly intimidating sequences throughout(and the language isn't exactly child-proof, either, though it could be worse). The focus is entirely on the single mother and her child, so few men will(willingly) watch. No, this seems to have been made explicitly for the group that the main character belongs to, 30-something single mothers who, in spite of being smart, make stupid decisions(which will annoy women not in that group, I would guess). I watched this for the first time in years, and it's really almost sad how little of it I remembered or recognized. The plot, I suppose, isn't awful, and realistic enough(disregarding the entire premise of the child "talking"), but it does seem like they merely made up just enough to bring it to 90 minutes, and to tie together the various scenes of the toddler in situations that such would find themselves in, with Bruce Willis doing a voice of what the kid might be thinking/trying to say(well, at least it's not as bad as Garfield, where sometimes, Jon seems to understand the Tabby perfectly, whereas others, he isn't picking up anything but the fact that his lazy pet is trying to communicate), so that the whole movie wasn't just of that(that would have been unbearable, even Hollywood couldn't have asked that of human beings). The humor usually doesn't work. There was maybe one brief point I found amusing, and that was it. The joke of every bit that has Willis doing the voice is that as far back as the womb(which we get a visual of... because that's what we movie-goers are just *dying* to see), our offspring are intelligent, well-spoken... really, the only thing Mikey isn't shown to have, for obvious reasons, is experience. The instances of him talking will amuse some, but once that wears off, you'll find that it's really not funny. At all. The film plods along, at a pace that at times almost seems like a psychological experiment... "how much will the viewers take, before they stop watching", with the occasional nightmare. Good pieces of music are used in the movie, where the choice of that particular song is downright frighteningly obvious. And this got two sequels and a TV show. I recommend this to those who find themselves in the group for which this film was intended... whatever it is. 5/10

This is a real time capsule...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 2 June 2021]

... mainly because Bruce Willis' voice over the baby just making random mouth movements would actually be outdated in just a few more years. Also, the attitude towards single motherhood dates it too.

Director Amy Heckerling took her experiences with having her own daughter and used it to come up with the screenplay.

Kirstie Alley plays Mollie, an accountant who is having a long term affair with a married client, Albert, who keeps claiming he is going to leave his wife but of course has no intention of doing so, even if he doesn't know it. When Mollie becomes pregnant she decides to keep the baby, and Albert seems delighted. Even if that doesn't crow-bar him from his wife.

On the day she goes into labor she finds out Albert is cheating on her with somebody else. She resolves from that point forward to only date men who would make good fathers, regardless of how boring and nondescript that they might be. But it turns out that the short bald guys can be just as grabby and boorish as the good looking ones. But still the search continues. And then she finds herself falling for the cabbie that took her to the hospital, the rather goofy impulsive James (John Travolta), a guy who doesn't check any of her "good father material" boxes. Meanwhile, the baby is the smartest and most observant person in the room.

This film never goes very deep below the surface - it is primarily a slapstick comedy with moments of poignance. But watching it again, the dating of it really comes through. A doctor who tries to influence a pregnant woman to have her baby? Seriously? Giving your parents some song and dance about how you were artificially inseminated that involves a "frozen pop" rather than admit that, in your early 30s, you had sex? Still, if you are a woman who found yourself single into your 30s and kissed more than your fair share of frogs, some of this is going to ring true, baby or no baby.

A funny film targeted to women

[rebeljenn · 5/10 · 18 January 2006]

'Look Who's Talking' is a pretty creative and original film in its presentation. (It's told from the story of a baby, and the story focuses on the relationship between the baby's mother and the men in her life.) Surprisingly, it is a pretty funny film in its own way, even if it is riddled with that 1980s style. This is coming from a female who does not traditionally enjoy romantic comedies. That said, I think that this is a film for those readers who enjoy romantic comedies and films involving in-your-face babies with adult-like views on the world and society. I think that the film will make most people laugh, even though it is not a great film.

Look Who's Talking: 7/10

[movieguy1021 · 7/10 · 9 October 2002]

Most people remember John Travolta in his Grease days. And now he's doing stuff like Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers. But here's an in-between Travolta vehicle that delivers laughs steadily throughout.

Travolta plays James Ubriacco, a cab driver in New York. Kirstie Alley is Mollie, an accountant who is having an affair with a married man, Albert (George Segal), who is currently getting a divorce from his wife. Things couldn't be better...until Albert gets her pregnant.

Mollie is fine for awhile (at least as fine as a pregnant woman can be), but then she sees Albert smooching someone else, and that's when she goes into labor. James the cab driver takes her to the hospital (where a witty spoof of The Exorcist takes place) so that her baby boy, Mikey, can be born. Mikey's hilarious voice is by Bruce Willis. Actually, we just he him think, but it's still very funny.

James starts to come around more often, and eventually becomes Mikey's babysitter. The rest of the plot revolves around Mikey growing up and wondering about what it's like to have a "daddy". He wants James to be his since they spend so much time together, but Mollie goes and dates other people. It was (oh, I hate using this word in reviews) cute, charming and witty. Obviously it was predictable, but what would you expect?

I enjoyed Travolta in this role, he seemed to enjoy himself. Alley was fine, as a woman who knew what she was doing. Director Amy Heckerling has made herself known to me, and I enjoy her movies. There are a couple dry spots without laughs, but they didn't matter to me.

My rating: 7/10

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor/content, and baby nudity.

Charming film

[jetkot · 9/10 · 4 January 2019]

John Travolta is very charming in this film.The chemistry between John and Kristie is fabulous. They both look great together. The director captures the best expressions of the baby.. Bruce Willis does well with the voice over. A nice feel good film

Good comedy with a sexy performance from Kirstie Alley.

[Brian-272 · 5/10 · 23 June 2001]

I just watched this movie for the first time last night on TBS and I must say I loved it! The story is great and also very funny. The concept of a talking baby and the whole plot centered around the world of a baby is just great and funny! Bruce Willis does a great job as the voice of the baby, the performances from John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are just great. Once Kirstie has the baby the search for the right dad goes on and on only to end up being the funny and nice New York cab driver (John Travolta). The performance from Kirstie Alley ranks as maybe her best ever she is not only charming, but very sexy as well. The sexy scene I like of Kirstie is when she starts to make love with Travolta, and I noticed that lovely and light colored purple bra she is wearing now I just love that color purple! Look Who's Talking is a great movie watch if you haven't for a great mixture of laughter, charm, and sex appeal.

Take a Look.

[tfrizzell · 3 July 2002]

Smart little comedy that expresses what a young baby is thinking (voiced by Bruce Willis) throughout its running time. Likeable performances from Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, George Segal and Olympia Dukakis add to the sometimes mediocre screenplay and unsteady direction. The clever idea though, which is very original, carries the film and makes it a funny and entertaining experience. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Another movie you could only get away with in the 80's

[tastyhotdogs · 6/10 · 27 January 2006]

In 1989 this was like the hugest movie ever. Haven't seen it for a long time, which frustrates me because daytime movies are littered with movies you've never heard of with ridiculous titles like "Sudden Betrayal" or "Fatal Death". What about classics like this? The movie revolves around Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis, in some of his finest work, right up there with "Moonlighting" and "Die Hard With A Vengeance"). Mikey can talk, but only in his head (huh?). Mikey's mum Mollie (Kirstie Alley before the Jenny Craig times) struggles to raise Mikey plus hold a relationship with a man. That is until James (John Travolta, in the early days of his revival, although starring in this has to be a major asterisk on his career) comes along. James wants to be a good partner and is great with Mikey.

Poplular in it's day, but I bet it's aged by now.

Look who is puking.

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 6 May 2003]

That would be me. I just can't stand these types of movies where you hear the movie from a baby's perspective. Well I guess this trilogy is the only movies that do that. This movie for the most part, for me, wasn't very funny. The only character worth a few laughs in this one was George Segals character as he has some scenes that were capable of making me chuckle. All in all though this story of a mother and her son just is awful. Too much cutesy stuff in it, but then what do you expect from a movie with a baby on the cover? Travolta plays a taxicab driver/pilot and really isn't very good here and Kristie Alley is the mother of Mickey the baby voiced by Bruce Willis.

Charming

[MovieFan983 · 6/10 · 30 December 1998]

This was a sweet, enjoyable smash hit, that was entertaining, and very sweet. Bruce Willis is great as little Mikey, and everyone else in the movie is good too. I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. Rated PG-13 for sexual/crude humor, thematic elements, and language.

Is it a talking baby flick, or a single-mother-needs-husband flick for adults?

[Ben_Cheshire · 1/10 · 14 October 2004]

This seems to be directly targeting two completely polarised demographics in completely separate scenes of the film. As opposed to the junky sequels, which are sickly-sweet corn strictly for kids, there is such a stark contrast between the adult scenes and the kids scenes that, watching it as an adult viewer now, it seems like a completely different flick than when i was watching it as a kid.

And it works for kids - i remember enjoying it - but adults won't help be confused by the sex jokes from Bruce Willis as the internal voice of the baby (which go completely over children's heads, i can tell you), and the whole talking baby thing, which dominates the movie a whole lot less than Kirstie Alley's single mother in search of a daddy plot.

Its a kind of useless gimmick. Its not like in What Women Want where these internal voices we're hearing can actually have an effect on the narrative: here the baby is completely impotent, can't express its views to the outside world, and is completely irrelevant to the action.

Its strange that a movie which is widely considered a kids or family movie should, on closer examination, seem more like a twenty-somethings flick about womanhood and motherhood. And even stranger still how popular it seems to be with the kiddies. Heck, if the kiddies love it, what's more to say?

Light entertainment

[gcd70 · 6/10 · 27 January 2007]

This film from director Amy Heckerling was originally meant to be a romantic comedy, without the voice-overs. The producers did not like the finished product, so they came up with the idea of having Mikey talk, and probably saved the picture.

Bruce Willis does a great job with the voice in what would have been a very drab, and somewhat confused, picture. Most of the antics are fun, but Willis' one-liners save the day. Kirstie Alley and John Travolta are a good pairing in the lead roles.

I am glad I caught this one on video (some 16 years ago) and did not bother catching it at the movies. Only fair entertainment.

Sunday, February 10, 1991 - Video

Annoying and stupid

[adamonIMDb · 3/10 · 7 August 2017]

I seem to be in a small minority of people who hated 'Look Who's Talking'. That's fine, but I really can't understand what people see in this film. It has a plot that goes nowhere, jokes that appear to have been written by 5 year olds, and of course, highly annoying talking babies.

What irritates me most about dumb films like this is how some people try to make out that they're 'classics'. This movie is barely watchable it's so annoying, why on earth does it deserve to be held in the same regard as some of the best films of all time? 'Look Who's Talking' is exactly the sort of film I usually avoid, and I wish I had.

Charming and funny

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 2 August 2010]

Sure there may be some predictabilities in the story and one or two rushed scenes, but Look Who's Talking is a very charming and funny film and significantly better than its sequels. It looks very nice, has a good soundtrack and has some likable characters too. The script also has a lot of funny and somewhat quotable parts too.

The direction is fine, as is the acting. Bruce Willis is perfect as the voice of Mikey, while John Travolta is equally wonderful with a great smile. And George Seagal comes very close to stealing the show as his character goes through a selfish phase.

Overall, charming and funny. Nothing outstanding, but it was great to watch and I enjoyed it very much. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Wait for milk time!

[PredragReviews · 6/10 · 6 April 2017]

Look Who's Talking is the definition of Hollywood mediocrity. From the acting to the script, the soundtrack to the visual look of the movie, everything shouts average. Hell, even Kirstie Alley managed to maintain an average weight for the duration. This isn't to say the movie isn't funny because it is, but aside from a few one liners by Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis) we never really get anything that makes you want to laugh out loud which is a real shame considering the potential of the situations in the movie. If you want a movie that will let you chill out and relax, whilst being instantly forgettable, this is it.

Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

Amusing, funny and ripely entertaining comedy.

[Silverzero · 18 May 2003]

Good scenario isn't it: baby observes the world as an adult would with sarcastic quips and anecdotes. And the movie itself is also quite good. Although it has the neccessary light touch, it's also rather adulty. Films of this calibre wouldn't usually have quite so much innuendo and sex-talk in them. This doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the movie, but it certainly is surprising.

There's a good cast to back this up. Kirstie Alley is ideal as the sexy single mother. John Travolta repeats his character in Saturday Night Fever to a certain degree, which isn't a bad thing. Bruce Willis steals the show as the voice of the baby though.

The result is a pleasing and enjoyable little comedy so I recommend "Look Who's Talking". My IMDb rating: 6.7/10.

A bit of a flop

[CrazyArty · 5/10 · 23 March 2022]

The story of baby Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis), born to a single mum (Kirstie Alley) who is courted by her friend (John Travolta).

Very dated romantic comedy. It's not particularly funny, is a little dull, with a weak script, honestly it's a bit of a flop.

It's Impossible To Dislike John Travolta's First Come Back Movie

[slightlymad22 · 7/10 · 4 February 2015]

John Travolta's first major acting role in 5 years is also Travolta's most successful film in 11 years since Grease. I think his big comeback in "Pulp Fiction" would not have happened were it not for "Look Who's Talking".

Plot In A Paragraph: After Mollie (Kirstie Alley) a single woman is left on her own to give birth to the child of a married man, she meets James (John Travolta) a cab driver. Meanwhile the point-of-view of the newborn boy is narrated through a voice over (Bruce Willis)

Kirsty Alley and John Travolta are both fun here, but it's Bruce Willis's voice over that brings the majority of the laughs. There is more than adequate featured support from Olympia Dukakis and George Segel.

With a great soundtrack, in spite of a couple of slightly hokey, predictable moments, it's almost a perfect, easy viewing movie, entertainment wise.

fun enjoyable gimmick

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 20 April 2015]

Mollie (Kirstie Alley) is an accountant following her mother Rosie (Olympia Dukakis). She has an affair with her married client Albert (George Segal). She becomes pregnant with Mikey (Bruce Willis) while Albert keeps stringing her along. She catches Albert with his interior decorator Melissa. Cabbie James (John Travolta) drives her to the hospital. Later, he starts using her place to fake residence in Manhattan for his grandpa (Abe Vigoda) and also babysits Mikey. They fall in love but she resists.

The movie needs to cut out some of the beginning. Alley is forced to carry the whole thing by herself. It's not particularly funny. Much of it could be trimmed. It improves when Travolta shows up. Travolta and Alley have good comedic banter. The gimmick of talking babies have some fun moments. Willis is good and it's light fun. It's even funnier when the kid grows a little older and more adorable. There are some unevenness but overall it's fun likable comedy.

Well I'll be damned...surprisingly good!!

[smoothgroove16 · 8/10 · 24 January 2005]

This is certainly not my sort of film, but after my girlfriend began complaining we always watch my movies, I prepared myself for 90 minutes of fake laughter and smiling to keep her happy, after all who else was I gonna take to see the new 'Clint' movie out.

However the opening scene with the tadpoles set the way for 90 minutes of top notch comedy, not exactly a laugh a second sort of comedy like Scary Movie or The Naked Gun, but a more all round sort of comedy where most gags hit the mark, certainly a major difference to Scary Movie! The casting is spot on, one of the major differences to the sequel. Bruce Willis is a great choice to play the voice of Mikey, and John Travolta is fantastic. But for me it was George Segal who stole the show for me, playing Mikey's real father, who in his words is going through a 'selfish phase'.

Sadly the sequels are simply terrible, but this movie is one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time, and I gave it 8/10.

Kind of cute, but could have been so much better

[blott2319-1 · 6/10 · 14 August 2021]

The concept of Look Who's Talking is a fun one. Giving the baby an adult voiceover can be humorous, and lead to some funny lines. However, they made some mistakes when building a film around that concept. First and foremost, the story isn't about raising the baby. It should be, because what makes this movie unique is that one idea of hearing the baby's thoughts, but instead they decided to make a romantic comedy about his mother meeting a guy on the way to the hospital. Secondly, they simply didn't write enough funny things for Bruce Willis to say. More than once they have scenes where it's clear they just had Willis watch footage of what the kid was doing, and then improvise some stupid things to say about it. Finally, they aged Mikey up too fast. I know why they made the choice to make him a little older (so they could have the kid walk away in the climax) but it's just so awkward when the child has started talking, is clearly mouthing words, and yet we hear dialogue from Bruce Willis that definitely doesn't match. All that being said, I have some nostalgia attached to this movie, so I'll admit it goes down smoothly when I'm watching it even though I recognize the film isn't great. There are some funny moments, and the romance is enjoyable to watch. I was also impressed with the visual effects they used to simulate the conception. Look Who's Talking is not a great film, in fact it's probably not even good, but I could easily watch it again and be happy.

It features a likable performance from John Travolta and odd bits of charm, but it's also aged rather poorly.

[IonicBreezeMachine · 5/10 · 24 March 2022]

Tightly wound accountant, Mollie (Kirstie Alley), becomes pregnant during an affair with married executive Albert (George Segal). After discovering that Albert is cheating on her with yet another woman, Mollie elects to raise the child herself without him. When Mollie goes into labor, a helpful cab driver, James (John Travolta), takes her to the hospital and stays with her through the delivery process. Kirstie gives birth to Mikey (whose inner monologue is provided by Bruce Willis) and promises him to find him a worthwhile father. James and Mollie strike up a friendship with James offering to babysit for Mollie, but overtime a romance develops.

Released in 1989, Look Who's Talking comes to us from writer/director Amy Heckerling who scored well regarded comedic hits during the 80s with Fast Times at Ridgemont High widely regarded as one of the best and most honest teen sex comedies of the 80s as well as successful if not all that well regarded features like Johnny Dangerously and National Lampoon's European Vacation. Heckerling was inspired to write Look Who's Talking (then known as Daddy's Home) shortly after the birth of her daughter Mollie with husband Neal Israel. The movie marked the first major starring role for John Travolta in four years after the critical and financial failure of his film Perfect in 1985 with Travolta taking smaller roles in TV in the interim years. The movie became a sleeper hit making just shy of $300 million against its $8 million budget making it the fourth highest grossing film of that year behind Indiana Jones and The Last Cruscade, Batman, and Back to the Future Part II. The movie was a massive phenomenon spawning two sequels, a loosely connected TV spin-off Baby Talk that ran for two seasons on ABC, and gave Travolta's career a much needed boost which kept him in the cultural mindset allowing for his comeback in the 90s. Despite being a massive success at the time of release, the movie has fallen by the cultural wayside which really isn't surprising as the movie is a very contemporaneous take on societal and cultural mores and attitudes regarding family and parentage and feels like it comes from that same cultural mindset that gave us Three Men and a Baby and Mr. Mom, granted the movie doesn't have the snide attitude of "Men taking care of kids? What kind of sissy does that!?" you saw in other movies of this ilk and Travolta is really good in the movie, but it's a movie that hasn't aged gracefully.

When talking about most comedies it becomes difficult to judge them because comedies by their nature are the most sensitive genre when it comes to relevance and staying power because comedies for the most part are responses to the times in which one lives and the more ingrained in the era in which they're produced, the more likely they are to lose their relevance and appeal that made them successful. When looking at comedies that are still enjoyed today they tend to be ones with a broader scope that transcends social and cultural times or go for goofy abstract craziness. Look Who's Talking tackles a very domesticated subject and despite Heckerling mining her own personal experiences for material much of it is based off of contemporary mindsets and attitudes that were present throughout the 80s regarding traditional values, importance on the nuclear family, and with the volatile and ever changing nature of these facets and their importance or lack thereof to society what's funny in 1989 just comes off as awkward and sometimes a little cringeworthy in hindsight. I think a big reason behind my not personally liking this movie does come down to Kirstie Alley's take on Mollie as she's supposed to be maybe a little too tightly wound and stuck in the details, but the movie and her performance translates this to "neurotic mess" with several fantasy sequences of Mollie's imagination running to ad absurdum arguments against her every decision or consideration including a reference to the Harold Lloyd hanging off a clock gag, how? Why? Only in your wildest fever dreams could you come up with a satisfying answer.

I will say John Travolta is good as our love interest James and I like how Heckerling doesn't take cheap shots at James' manhood for deriving joy from babysitting Mikey. Movies like Mr. Mom or Three Men and a Baby often played up antiquated notions of manhood regarding fathers in child rearing with a clear distinction between "women's work" and "man's work" and using any sort of perceived "cross contamination" as something to be mocked and ridiculed. Here Heckerling doesn't take those cheap shots which probably made Look Who's Talking slightly more agreeable and Travolta does fit the role really well and from Travolta's real life you can see that warmth is genuine. The gimmick of Mikey's voice-over as done by Bruce Willis...it's okay I guess. I honestly wasn't a fan of adding this voice over while the character was in utero and frankly the opening twenty minutes before Travolta shows up are where most of the cringe inducing scenes lie. Some of Mikey's commentary is occasionally amusing, but most of the time it feels more like rambling noise filling up gaps between the montages backed up with Golden Oldies.

There are individual moments of Look Who's Talking that are okay or have an air of sweetness to them, but then there's the dated cultural attitudes of the time that eek their way in and reminding you of when this was made. John Travolta is charming and he's well utilized here, but when you have the neurotic and obsessive characterization of Kirstie Alley's Mollie, or the rambling ADR of Bruce Willis I find it hard to give Look Who's Talking a grade above passable mediocrity.

Oh, Baby

[hdmail · 19 July 2000]

The concept of woman-with-child-meets-man-and-falls-in-love has been done to death in the movie industry. The only thing that can save a movie from being lost in the existing hash is a gimmick that makes it unique. Fortunately, "Look Who's Talking" gives a fresh perspective on an otherwise trite situation by demonstrating it from the baby's point of view. Even this could become annoying were it not for the fact that, rather than having a child actor flesh out the character, the clever, snappy dialogue is delivered by Bruce Willis in his most likeable role since "Moonlighting". Had they used a child's voice, lines such as "Let's get some apple juice down here!" would be merely cute; with Willis' smoky growl, they are hysterically funny.