Look Who's Talking

Look Who’s Talking debuted in 1989, it starred Kristie Alley, John Travolta, and had the voice talents of Bruce Willis. One of the most fascinating things about this movie is the opening scene in which the audience watches the sperm travel through the woman’s body and finally to the egg which it fertilizes, interestingly enough the sperm and the egg each have voices and the audience can hear the sperm’s determination to make it and the egg’s attempted protests. All this leads to a pregnant Kristie Alley, playing Molly, who’s boyfriend does not react very well to the news of her pregnancy and winds up going back to his wife. Molly is left to deal with her pregnancy alone, until the day she goes into labor. To get to the hospital she hires a cab, driven by James (John Travolta), who freaks out when he realizes his client is in labor and drives like a madman (even by NY standards) to get her to the hospital quickly; once there he is mistaken for the father and is quickly pushed into the delivery room, where Mikey is born. Later James call on Molly at her apartment as she forgot her purse in his cab, and he leaves as Mikey’s new babysitter. After a lot of strange circumstances including Molly getting back together with her ex, dumping him after he is not acting like a good father to Mikey, Mikey and James bonding, Molly’s parents pressuring her to get married, flight lessons, and James using Molly’s address to get his father into a nursing home the movie culminates in toddler Mikey high jacking a car with a breadstick at the nursing home. After that Molly and James realize, through their common love for Mikey, that they truly belong together and Mikey finally gets his perfect family . . . or at least until his sister is born in the sequel.

What makes this movie truly special, and more than your average romantic comedy, is that the audience can hear Mikey (and all the other babies) talk, even though the adults in the film can’t. The movie is truly from his perspective as he gives us witty commentary as to what the baby’s point of view on the events in the film, including begging to be put back in after birth. Mikey fails to understand why his mother calls a stranger his father when James is the one he hangs around all the time, he jokes, he’s sarcastic, and he gives the audience an innocent point of view on the romantic plight of his mother and his frustration at her inability to understand him. Look Who’s Talking is truly a fun movie to watch and is (in my opinion) one of the best films made. It’s a unique movie that has spanned a couple of sequels; Look Who’s Talking Too (in which Mikey gets a sister), and Look Who’s Talking Now (Mikey and his sister get dogs).