Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers (WGA):

Blake Snyder (written by) and
William Osborne (written by) ...

Release Date:

21 February 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

Detective Joe Bomowski's mom is in town for a visit. She did the laundry, washed the windows and scrubbed the floors. Now, she's gonna clean up the streets.

Plot:

A tough detective's mother comes to visit him and begins to meddle in his life and career.

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Gun | Police | Police Officer | Towel

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Sgt. Joe Bomowski
Estelle Getty	...	Tutti Bomowski
JoBeth Williams	...	Lt. Gwen Harper
Roger Rees	...	Parnell
Martin Ferrero	...	Paulie
Gailard Sartain	...	Munroe
John Wesley	...	Tony
Al Fann	...	Lou
Ella Joyce	...	McCabe
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Det. Ross
Nicholas Sadler	...	Suicide
Dennis Burkley	...	Mitchell
Ving Rhames	...	Mr. Stereo
Jana Arnold	...	Mitchell's Girl
Chris Latta	...	Gang Member (as Christopher Collins)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #31636) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

1st Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Northern Lights Entertainment

Trivia:

Sylvester Stallone considers this the worst film he's ever done.

Quotes:

Tutti Bomowski: [to the flight attendants] It was so cute, when he was 6 years old he walked into the kitchen and said "Mommy! My peepee's stuck in my zipper!"

Movie Connections:

Featured in 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Undecided

"Listen to your mother!"

I have little to say about this movie other than it is nowhere near as bad as I'd been led to believe. Actually quite amusing in places, it will strike a chord with anyone who has an interfering mother (and God knows I have!) as Estelle Getty invades Stallone's life.

I fail to see the reason for all the bad spirit directed at this film. The incidental music is a little repetitive and it's admittedly a one-joke plot. But it is a fairly good joke, and would have made for a superb hour-length tv movie. Unfortunately it's a 90 minute cinema film and so doesn't maintain it's momentum all the way through.

I've seen people criticise the film for Stallone not getting to be "funny" in this movie. I mean, have you heard of a straight man?? Sylvester's contribution to the comedy is his underplayed reaction to his mother's obsessive behaviour. What do you expect him to do, dress up and tell jokes?

Admittedly, the surprisingly violent aspects of the film don't sit well, and it's hard to laugh at Getty when she's just shot a man and splattered his blood all over an airplane runway. Another problem is that her chemistry with Stallone isn't as pin-sharp as it could be; the two leave notable pauses in between lines. Maybe a few more takes could have honed up the reaction time, but generally it's fine, and Stallone really makes an effort to make it work.

Not an all-time classic, certainly, but a pleasant enough film to pass a Sunday afternoon. Just don't listen to the nay-sayers, watch it yourself and make up your own mind. 5/10.