Three Men and a Baby (1987) - DVD Review

Film:
DVD:

Written by: James Orr and Jim Cruickshank, based on the screenplay Trois hommes et un couffin by Coline Serreau
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Starring: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, Nancy Travis, Margaret Colin

Released by: Walt Disney
Region: 1
Rating: PG
Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Rent it.

Three New York bachelors are enjoying living the single life. You have an actor (Danson), an architect (Selleck) and a cartoonist (Guttenberg). Then you get a fourth player in the game--the infant daughter of Danson's character, who gets dumped on their doorstep. Now the three--who previously had to deal with a cavalcade of various women--now find themselves suddenly learning about three o'clock in the morning feedings, diaper changes, and how the best things in life are often the least expected.

This is a very entertaining movie and it's primarily due to the chemistry between the three leads. They deliver the well-written dialogue extremely well, and the story flows under the capable hands of director Nimoy. The three men's interactions with the infant Mary are also amusingly realistic. My personal favorite aspect of the movie, however, is all of the clever (not to mention creative) moments that are missing from so many films--such as the scene where Selleck offers Guttenberg one thousand dollars to change the baby's diaper. The film as a whole is funny, sweet, and well worth watching.

The DVD has no features, which is truly a shame. I'm sure that even just the stories about working with a baby would make a commentary very entertaining, or at least a making-of featurette. The artwork shown in the movie (painted by Guttenberg's character) is very impressive and would have been nice as the subject of a featurette. There are also other tidbits (such as the rumor about catching a ghost on film) that would be interesting to hear about. But alas, not even some text screens are made available.

In general, it's a very good film and worth owning in some form or another. There really isn't a reason to buy this on DVD, however, unless you're just looking for a widescreen version.

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