Few actors have their public image built on a single iconic character as Leonard Nimoy had. Apart from entering history books as Mr. Spock, Nimoy was quite a renaissance man and tried his hand as a singer, book author and, finally, a film director. While his first two directorial efforts were related to Star Trek, the rest were comedies, and one of them, 1987 film Three Men and a Baby turned out to be the most commercially successful film of its time.
The film represents Hollywood remake of Three Men and a Craddle, immensely successful 1985 French comedy written and directed by Coline Serreau. New version, written by Jim Cruickshank and James Orr, is set in Manhattan. The protagonists are three best friends – architect Peter Mitchell (played by Tom Selleck), cartoonist Michael Kellam (played by Steve Guttenberg) and actor Jack Holden (played by Ted Danson) – who share luxurious apartment and bachelor lifestyle. One day Jack is going on a film shoot in Turkey and asks his Peter and Michael to take care of a package he had taken from a friend. When a baby called Mary (played by twins Lisa and Michelle Blair) is left on apartment’s doorstep with a message asking Jack to take care of her, Peter and Michael are convinced that she is the said package. Taking care of the baby represents enormous challenge to men who don’t have a clue how to feed a baby, bathe her or change diapers, but they gradually learn how to handle situation. Before Jack returns from Turkey, they learn that the package wasn’t a baby, but actually a shipment of heroin, which creates complications from both the drug smugglers and police.
French original was based on “high concept”, which was given predictably syrupy treatment in Hollywood remake. Protagonists start as successful ladies’ men with legions of different women going through their apartment, which is a lifestyle that looked increasingly irresponsible in the age of AIDS. Just like in many Hollywood comedies of such type, it takes an adorable child for protagonists to see their error of their ways and embrace responsibilities and joys of parenthood and proper family. Nimoy as director does a solid job, but doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel nor intervene in the script, even when the script actually warranted some intervention. This is most evident in rather weak drug smuggling subplot (inherited from French original) which results in some lame jokes and gets resolved in poorly directed and mostly forgettable matter. Nimoy is forced to amplify the finale with some predictable melodrama, which makes film slightly overlong and features otherwise talented actress Nancy Travis hamming it up. This film works mostly due to the main cast, which featured some of the most popular film and television stars of the time. Each of them manages to give individuality to their characters and deliver good interplay - Selleck as the most serious member of trio, Guttenberg as the comedian and Danson as ladies’ man who is the last to receive epiphany. Three Men and a Baby was initially released during holiday season and its pro-family message sat well with the audience, resulting in film smashing all competition at the box-office. Inevitably, a sequel title Three Men and a Little Lady came three years later and, also inevitably, proved to be much inferior in quality. Today’s audience might enjoy mild humour, great comedic skills of the cast and generally uplifting content, but it is also likely to conclude that the film could have been much better.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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