''Look Who's Talking'' is a 1989 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film written and directed by

Amy Heckerling Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American filmmaker. An alumna of both New York University and the American Film Institute, she directed the commercially successful films ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), ''National Lampoon's Europ ...

, and starring

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

and

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

as Albert.

Plot

Mollie, an accountant living in New York City, becomes pregnant during an affair with married executive Albert. The baby, while growing inside Mollie, begins to make voice-over commentary. In her ninth month, while out shopping, Mollie and her friend Rona catch Albert with another woman, and he admits he does not plan to stay with Mollie. The heartbreak and stress cause her to go into labor. A taxi driver speeds through downtown traffic to get her to the hospital in time. Mollie becomes a dedicated single mother and Mikey continues his commentary, using an "inner voice" which can also communicate with other babies. She meets the taxi driver, James, again at her apartment building. Over the next year, the two develop a friendship and tentative romantic relationship. James tells Mollie that he loves her, but she says she only wants what is best for Mikey, that rushing into things is how she got into trouble and kicks him out. Mollie is forced by her boss to continue working with Albert, which makes matters worse. At the playground, Mikey is told by his friends what "daddies" are, and he realizes he wants James to be ''his'' father. James comes to the apartment and tells Mikey that he will not be around anymore and Mollie listens over the baby monitor as he pours his heart out to Mikey, who admits he will miss James, too. Mollie takes Mikey to Albert's office to meet him, but when he admits he does not want the responsibility of being a father because he’s going through a "selfish phase", Mollie realizes he has not changed. She leaves Albert behind for good and makes up with James. 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". 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.

Cast

as James Ubriacco *

as Mollie Jensen *

as Albert *

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...

as Rosie *

Twink Caplan Twink Caplan (born December 25, 1947) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She is best known for her roles in the box office hits ''Clueless'' and the ''Look Who's Talking'' series. As a producer, her best-known projects were ''Clueles ...

as Rona * Joy Boushel as Melissa *

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and ''Fish'' (1977–1978 ...

as Grandpa Vincent Ubriacco * Christopher Aydon as Mikey (age 2 years) ** Jacob Haines as Mikey (age 1 year) ** Jaryd Waterhouse as Mikey (4 months) ** Jason Schaller as Mikey (

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

-newborn) Voices *

as the voice of Mikey *

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

as the voice of Julie (under the pseudonym of "Baby Guess") (uncredited)

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has a score of 55% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The critical consensus reads: "''Look Who's Talking'' holds some appeal thanks to its affable stars and Amy Heckerling's energetic direction, but a silly script doesn't allow wit to get a word in edgewise". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. ''Look Who's Talking'' was a surprise hit, opening at number one in the United States with $12,107,784 in its opening weekend and staying at number one for five weekends with grosses over $10 million each weekend. It eventually grossed $140,088,813 domestically and a worldwide total of $296,999,813, making it Travolta's most successful film in eleven years since '' Grease'', the fourth highest-grossing movie of 1989, and Columbia TriStar's highest-grossing film overseas, surpassing ''

Kramer vs. Kramer ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' is a 1979 American legal drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on Avery Corman's 1977 novel of the same name. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry. It tells the sto ...

'' The film was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on April 6, 1990, and topped the country's box office that weekend.

Sequels and reboot

The film was successful enough to spawn two

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s: ''

Look Who's Talking Too ''Look Who's Talking Too'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film and a sequel to director Amy Heckerling's 1989 comedy ''Look Who's Talking''. The film stars the original cast members John Travolta and Kirstie Alley as James and Mollie Ubriacco, ...

'' (1990) and ''

Look Who's Talking Now ''Look Who's Talking Now'' is a 1993 American romantic comedy film, and the third and final installment in the film series that began with '' Look Who's Talking'' in 1989. It finds John Travolta and Kirstie Alley reprising their roles as James a ...

'' (1993). The success of the first two films also inspired an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

called ''

Baby Talk Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parent ...

'', which aired from 1991 to 1992, and featured

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

as the voice of "Baby Mickey".

, and

are the only actors to appear in all three films in the series. In 2010, ''

Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...

producer

Neal H. Moritz Neal H. Moritz (born June 6, 1959) is an American film producer and founder of Original Film. He has produced over 70 major motion pictures which have grossed a total of over $11 billion worldwide as of 2021. He is best known for the ''Fast & Fu ...

was planning to reboot the series, with the Mikey character now grown up and the father of the baby in the film. In 2019, director

Jeremy Garelick Jeremy Garelick (born November 30, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Garelick was born in New York City. He attended Yale University and graduated with degrees in Film and Theater. He is of Jewish background. ...

was writing the script for the reboot.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Look Who's Talking 1980s pregnancy films 1989 films 1989 romantic comedy films American independent films American pregnancy films American romantic comedy films Films adapted into television shows Films about babies Films directed by Amy Heckerling Films scored by David Kitay Films set in New York City Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Amy Heckerling TriStar Pictures films Films about accountants Films about parenting 1980s English-language films Films about children 1980s American films