Like Father Like Son (1987)

One of my all time favorites.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Hello Everybody Today I'm reviewing a Teen Body Swap Comedy from 1987 Called Like Father Like Son which stars Dudley Moore & Kirk Cameron. The Movie is about Jack Hammond (Dudley Moore) who is a Surgeon & his son Chris Hammond (Kirk Cameron) Switching Bodies. I First Heard of this Movie on Siskel & Ebert's worst Movies of 1987 and I agree with Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert. The Movie is Really Stupid with the whole body swap plot. The Movie's plot involves the father acting like the son and the son acting like the father. When I watched this movie I didn't know this movie was PG-13 because there is a lot of swearing in this movie. I also thought the ending to be weird. 2/10

Like Father, Like Son is probably most appealing to 80s fans, presenting typical teen genre conflicts as well as 80s teen stars, Kirk Cameron and Sean Astin. Young kids might appreciate it simply for the story (despite it's lack of novelty) of a teenager getting all the priveleges of being an adult, while only having to change appearance and not attitude. The decade however, offering a nauseating selection of role switching comedies and parodies, may have the rest of us looking to avoid this repetition and searching for something else on the shelves. Chris Hammond (Kirk Cameron) is a high school senior. He's an average student, a decent track team participant, and likes a girl at school who happens to be dating a psychotic jock bully. And, his dad, Jack (Dudley Moore) is breathing down his neck to get him an ivy league school to study pre-med, leaving Chris secretly wanting to tell his dad to just let him make his own decisions about what he wants to do.Chris's buddy, Trigger (Sean Astin), has a wacky uncle who's staying with him. He lived in the desert for awhile, experimenting with body-switching potions. Trigger gets a hold of the brain transference serum and it switches Chris and Jack's brains so that Chris is Jack and Jack is Chris. There's a mistake here, in that their accents should've switched as well, since when Trigger tried it on the cat and dog, the cat barked at the dog and the dog meowed at the cat. But, it makes for a whole lot of trouble. The incredibly boring and sometimes big-shot Dr. Hammond has to settle on being a teenager awhile. And Chris has to settle for being Dr. Hammond, both without screwing things up. For Dr. Hammond, he hopes to get the ordeal with over quickly; but for Chris, there's advantages to not having to show up for school, take tests, and the like. But, they each grow quite irritable of the situation as they tend to screw up each other's lives. Dr. Hammond has a few nasty run-ins with the bully as Chris. And Chris, involved in an affair with the boss's wife, not only sets the living room on fire, but also risks his father's chances of becoming chief of staff. I still think it's a fun movie for kids and probably teenagers. Safe family fun for the most part anyways due to lack of sex, violence, and for the most part, language. However, Kirk Cameron did tend to get quite annoying at parts as the whiny teenager. Actually, Trigger was one of the best characters in the movie as a sort of slacker friend of Chris, except he's not in the movie all that much. I did like Chris as Dr. Hammond during the hospital scenes, when he had to take his med students on rounds, and didn't know what the heck he was doing. It has it's moments.

Well, if you've got an Sunday afternoon with nothing else to do, this is the movie for you. It's neither intellictually stimulating, nor is it hilariously funny, but it's one of those guilty pleasure movies. You don't know why you watch it, because you've already seen it before and it wasn't that hot of a movie, but you can't help but sit and watch it until the credits roll. It is neither the best nor the worst parent/child switching places movie ever.

The jokes did not quite take off in the first half of the film. I was appalled by how bad the dialogue was, and how un-funny the lines that are supposed to be funny are. Chris' best friend is perhaps THE most annoying person in the first half; his lines are retarded, and so is he. Chris (Kirk Cameron) is also very annoying, and so is his dad. After they switched brains though, the film got a whole lot better. It's a riot to see Dr. Hammond in Chris' body going to school and being a smart ass. It's even funnier to see Chris in his father's body going to work. This movie is basically something to entertain you for a couple of hours. It's not over-the-top-ly funny, and it's very stupid, but it's all in the name of entertainment. Great acting from Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron. Can't say much for the rest of the cast 'cause I don't really remember what the heck they did. A rather interesting plot as well, if you're not in the mood to think.To sum it up, "Like Father, Like Son" is stupid...but it's fun.