Like Father Like Son (1987)

A mysterious potion switches the personalities of a buttoned up doctor and his laid back son.

Director:

Rod Daniel

Writers:

Lorne Cameron (story by), Lorne Cameron (screenplay by)

Stars:

Dudley Moore, Kirk Cameron, Margaret Colin

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dudley Moore	...	Dr. Jack Hammond / Chris Hammond
Kirk Cameron	...	Chris Hammond / Dr. Jack Hammond
Margaret Colin	...	Ginnie Armbruster
Catherine Hicks	...	Dr. Amy Larkin
Patrick O'Neal	...	Dr. Armbruster
Sean Astin	...	Trigger
Camille Cooper	...	Lori Beaumont
Micah Grant	...	Rick Anderson
Bill Morrison	...	Uncle Earl
Skeeter Vaughan	...	Medicine Man
Larry Sellers	...	Navajo Helper
Tami David	...	Navajo Girl
Maxine Stuart	...	Phyllis
David Wohl	...	Dr. Roger Hartwood
Michael Horton	...	Dr. Mike O'Donald

Storyline

Dr. Jack Hammond has best chances to become medical superintendent in the clinic. So he's completely absorbed in his work and has no understanding for his teenage son Chris' problems with school. By accident one of them drinks a brain-exchanging serum, and it switches their identities. This leads of course to extraordinary complications in school and at work, but also to insight in the problems and feelings of each other.

---

Plot Keywords:

adult as child | child as adult | serum | body switching | native american | 

---

Taglines:

Chris and his dad have accidentally changed bodies - but no big deal. Chris gets the Jag and the Gold Card. Dad gets the fake ID and the bio final.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

De tal padre tal hijo

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$34,377,585

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Films Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Comparing his Chris Hammond character in this movie with his television character Mike Seaver from his hit television series Growing Pains (1985), actor Kirk Cameron explained: "Chris is not like Mike Seaver. He is a bit shy, and although he does a little better in school, he's not as confident or as aggressive."

---

Goofs

When Chris (Dr. Hammond) is delivering the baby, he picks it up immediately after the birth to reveal that the umbilical cord has already healed, and the baby is perfectly clean and dry.

---

Quotes

Chris Hammond: How can she stand to be so close to her own body without constantly feeling herself up?

---

Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Like Father, Like Clown (1991)

---

Soundtracks

Wild Side
Written by Tommy Lee (uncredited), [link=nm1016427 (uncredited), Vince Neil (uncredited) and Nikki Sixx (uncredited)
Performed by Mötley Crüe
Courtesy of Elektra / Asylum Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Each Other's Lives

Like Father Like Son was made at the height of Kirk Cameron's bubblegum popularity as teen idol, courtesy of his television series Growing Pains which was dominating the ratings in 1987. Cameron was just getting into his fundamentalist religion kick so the script couldn't be too naughty.

As it is it's a mildly amusing comedy of the Freaky Friday vein, only this time it's a father and son, Kirk's father in this case being Dudley Moore. Kirk's your typical teenage kid, just looking for a good time and not too serious. Moore is a very serious and respected surgeon who would like to be the new chief of staff at his hospital to replace Patrick O'Neal's whose recommendation on a replacement will probably make or break a candidate.

Kirk's got some troubles of his own in the form of shapely Camille Cooper who's hitting on him. She's the girl friend of jock Micah Grant who hates Kirk and his friend Sean Astin.

In fact Astin's archaeologist uncle is the cause of all the problems that Moore and Cameron face. The uncle Bill Morrison has come back from a dig at the Navajo reservation with a body transference medicine that Astin thinks would be worth a few laughs, even experimenting with a dog and cat on it. But when the maid thinks it's a condiment and Moore and Cameron use it on the spaghetti, strange things happen.

Each lives about 36 hours in the other's bodies and the other's lives and generally make a mess of it. If you've seen both versions of Freaky Friday you've got a general idea of what's going to happen.

The film did reasonably well at the box office though it failed to make Cameron a movie star. That didn't happen until Kirk started playing on the Christian film circuit. Moore and Cameron and Astin work well together and it's still mildly amusing.