User Reviews

There was an infinity of oportunities here, playing the stereotipe of men not knowing anything about babies, being all macho and rought, but nothing.

The dad giving up the baby so easilly was unjustified, just because the woman is the mother she has to have the baby, no one talked about the fact she abandoned her, but that could have be for a drama.

What was with all the drug dealler stuff, the movie is about 3 guys taking care of a baby, and when that's resolved there are still like 20 minutes of movie.

This one is a 4 to me, just not funny or that entretaining for a comedy.

When I saw this in the cinema all those years ago, it never occurred to me that there could be a ghost in this film directed by Leonard "Mr Spock" Nimoy. Anyway, it was only a few years later with the advent of VHS that yikes, perhaps there was a ghost of a boy that survived the editing room. But thankfully the rumor was dispelled, but still, if anything rentals for 3 Men and Baby went through the roof for this one scene alone.

The film is really funny but it is including wrong information about Turkey (camels, fez etcetera) in 80s. Since 1923 Turkey is a modern country at least much USA ;)

I watched this movie with high hopes based on the three stars. I mean Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg are all funny in their own right and I figured the three together would be really funny. I was a bit disappointed. I do figure it was the writing and the directing since I have seen all three guys perform a lot better. The whole premise that three roommates would date the same woman is not too far fetched for the 70's-80', what is a little hard to believe though is that all three "slept" with her with in enough of a time period so that any one of them could be the baby's father. I guess DNA matching was still not reliable when this movie was shot. All in all though it was fairly funny.

3 Men and a Baby was the No 1 box-office smash hit of 1987. Although why that is is anyone's guess. It may have been because of an urban legend that surrounds the film. A ghost boy appears in the background of one particular shot. You need only browse this site's trivia section to find the details behind that. Its only a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson. There does seem something rather ludicrous about a myth fabricated by the public proving to be the selling-point of a film. And yet it worked. In ways beyond the filmmakers wildest dreams.

Lucky for them. Because there's nothing particularly brilliant about the rest of the film. In fact you can almost sense the filmmakers cold feet with the whole baby angle, since they include a clumsy and completely ham-fisted drugs subplot. Almost as if they sensed the baby wasn't a strong enough story to sustain the film on its own. Which says all there is to say about 3 Men and a Baby.

If it weren't for that whole marketing ploy about the so-called ghost boy, something tells me 3 Men and a Baby would not have been the box-office winner that it was. The film is made up of two disjointed plots that never gel together, no matter how hard it tries. And the film follows the dictates of formula right to the letter. You can almost imagine the screen writing sessions, pitching they're ideas:

"One of three guys fathers a baby he never knew about. The mother dumps her on they're doorstep. Wouldn't it be great if daddy's out of town at the time, leaving the other two hapless schmucks minding the baby. Cue lots of diaper changes. Crying. Goo-gooing. And what about this, a drugs angle to make things even more exciting than they already are? Once that's dealt with, the three guys realise they do love this little bundle of joy after all! And then Mommy comes back to really shake things up. I think we've got a genuine classic on our hands here. Let's get this baby into production."

Its times like this I fear for the future of film-making if this is the best they can churn out. 3 Men and a Baby is one of the most overrated comedies ever to hit cinemas. The fact it filled out so many theatre seats is beyond belief. A much better baby film of 1987 was the superb Coen comedy Raising Arizona. Now that was a comedy classic!

I'm hard-pressed to think of a single thing about the film that does work. The Blair twins who play Baby Mary are certainly adorable enough, but the film surrounding her is so routine and eminently predictable. There are all the usual hallmarks. Director Leonard Nimoy (Mr Spock!) ticks them all off like he were filling out a check-list. The sleepless nights. The nappy changes. And poop jokes. Lots and lots of poop jokes. Or doodling as its called here for some strange, bizarre reason.

After Nimoy demonstrated such a deft hand for comedy in the previous year's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, its surprising he fumbles it so badly here. Even the title is a bit misleading. For half the film, Ted Danson is completely absent. Leaving it to Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg to carry the load in his absence.

Tom Selleck can certainly be a charismatic and likable leading man. Any episode of Magnum will tell you that. But he often looks a bit uncomfortable in the role of a care-free bachelor forced to develop a softer side through a baby. I think everyone (including Selleck) was expecting 3 Men and a Baby to be the film that would launch his movie career. Except it didn't happen. Despite numerous TV appearances and the occasional film role, Tom Selleck has almost completely vanished from the Hollywood circuit.

The same goes for Steve Guttenberg, even more so. I was never really much of a fan of Guttenberg. Although he carved out a modest career for himself in the 80s, he is hardly what you would call a truly gifted comic actor. He coasted for far too long on the Police Academy series. Had a couple of outside hits with the likable Short Circuit and the endearing Cocoon, but his career didn't survive the transition to the 90s. The decline of his career has been steeper than Selleck's. He's now reduced to appearing in TV movies. Usually of the Christmas kind.

Ted Danson is the only one to have had any kind of career beyond 3 Men and a Baby. Showing his natural talent for comedy in Cheers and Becker, Danson is one of Hollywood's greatly underrated comedians. But the film doesn't give him much of a chance to show off his considerable talent for comedy since it sidelines him for most of it.

3 Men and a Baby is miscalculated on all counts. A lot of the comedy falls flat. The dramatic scenes come out mawkish, e.g. violin music plays when Mary's mum Sylvia (Nancy Travis with a very convincing British accent) comes to take her away. And the film is an odd blend of a light plot and a dark one. You can tell Leonard Nimoy backed himself into a corner with that drugs subplot, as he goes out of his way to wrap it up in the quickest way possible in a hurried and utterly unconvincing showdown at a construction site. All the actors look itchy and restless. As if they're as eager as Nimoy to wrap this thing up.

Things end predictably with Mary being accepted, Sylvia joining the family, and all live happily ever after. 3 Men and a Baby is not quite as dire as its sequel, but it still falls far short of classic status. Funny that an unfounded rumour would have such a positive effect on a movie!

"Three men and a baby" is very much a product of its time. The power dressing,the "cool" wall painting in the boys' apartment,the outdated attitudes towards women,the presumption that men will have no idea of how to look after children - a proposition completely demolished within a few years with the growth of the Househusband and the fragmentation of family life in much of the Western world. And,frankly,if I never see another baby peeing I will still get through my life ok,thanks. We have three ridiculously attractive bachelors living what might have been called in more innocent days "the gay life". All this fun and games is brought to a standstill when the eponymous baby turns up on their doorstep. Of course they are all "Creatives" which makes it even more unlikely that they should have been left on the shelf - as it were - for so long. One of theses carefree chaps is the unknowing father of the baby,but being good types they all chip in when they can and actually begin to enjoy the experience. Bless! Every new baby cliché is dusted off and given new life. There is a sublimely unlikely twist when they become involved with a gang of drug dealers(very much a hazard of American life in the eighties,apparently) but otherwise the film rides smoothly on it's pre - ordained path. It's all so last century - and not in a good way. Tom Selleck has gone on to become a significant actor,his moustache unchanging through 30 years. If you want to catch up on his earlier career watch "High Road to China",far better than this in every respect.

Until last night if someone had asked me about Three Men and A Baby, I would have said...oh great movie, classic eighties I loved it! Well, it being one of my wife's all time favourites she insisted we watched it and now I'm convinced that it might have been the first time I've seen it all the way through. It is a fun, madcap adventure that's only problem is that with time it has become a little predictable. However, that doesn't make it any less fun and it certainly presents the best possible of "baby changing bachelor(s) life" and "inept new father's taking care of baby." Its not a new concept, we've seen it time and time again even on Television but this is still an 80's classic thanks to chemistry of the cast, a solid story and simple fun. Only an eighties movie could mix together the new father angle with drug dealers and a thriller type ending in a construction building. A great 80's film in my opinion encompasses and shows off everything we loved about the 80's and this film does that. Success, gluttony (but in a good way), free love, spirit, bright bold and sassy with a touch of gaudiness and you will see all of that in Three Men and a Baby. It also is unique in the fact that it really isn't a family film, it really was geared to adults making it a unique comedy in that way.

I could start with any of the main three guys but I will start with my favourite, the unbeatable Mr. Tom Selleck. He's handsome, he's suave, he's an incredibly versatile actor and he was at his prime in this film. His chemistry is palpable and you can see it at every turn. He is a scene stealer just by being Tom Selleck. You can't hardly make an adult 80's comedy without Steve Guttenberg. You can make fun of him, and you can point out he is always the same character but you can't deny he commands attention in 80's comedies. He has a down to earth style that you really like and he's good in this. I happen to think that he gets downplayed because of Selleck and Ted Danson but he is still a welcome member of the cast and has great comedic timing. Ted Danson basically plays Sam Malone in this film. He is absent for almost half the movie and his character has a much faster story than the other two guys but he is still a necessary part to the three men aspect. You can't deny the three of them have great chemistry and they all have at least one great scene between them that will make you laugh, smile or feel all warm and fuzzy. I can't say a lot for the supporting cast, they are all good but they do nothing more than support the three guys. Even our "villains" are mostly just run of the mill bad guys that don't really shine in their roles but they are completely adequate.

I was nearly bowled over when I saw Leonard Nimoy directed this film. I just had no idea that he did anything like this as a director. He does a very good job. He keeps the script simple and he lets his three stars do what they do best. All three of them were 80's TV and movie heavyweights so you just let them do what they do and it works. The movie is fun and light, cute and weepy at times but it just hits the right chords. No one will ever say its a brilliant feat of film making but the fun and entertainment factor is without a doubt high! If you love 80's then you have to see this of course, and moreso if you want a light fun comedy then look no further because this will fill the void!! 8/10