Walk Like a Man (1987) Poster

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4/10
Sentimental Contrived Schlock Fails On All Levels, Though It Has Heart
FiendishDramaturgy13 June 2007
Most movie goers who have bothered to rate this, express their chronic dislike of this work due to Howie Mandell's presence herein; however, I must say that he is no more a harbinger of death to this film than anyone else.

The performances found within this film are all adequate, with some better than others, but none were lacking such as to lessen the worth of this production. The dialog delivery was also adequate, but the dialog itself was trite, contrived, and slapstick in its execution. Mandell suffers more from poor direction than a lack of talent. Yes, he was an annoying element of his hey day, but he never outright bombed until this work. Christopher Lloyd is better than adequate, but his usual curmudgeonly charm is lost here. Cloris Leachman's performance is the only contributing factor which elevates this work, but she could not save it, alone.

The story had a good basis which could have netted a great film, but the National Lampoonesque take on the whole premise is the leading contributing factor to this film's demise. The story was watered down and sentimentalized to the point of generating schlock instead of entertainment. There isn't one aspect herein which isn't contrived to suit the story line, including the domestication of the lead character and the time line wherein said domestication takes place.

A young boy is abandoned by his bratling brother and left alone in the wilderness to be raised by wolves. After his rescue, his brother (still a brat) decides Bobo must learn to read and write...immediately! Intrigue ensues.

Had this been treated with more care and a bit more seriously in the right places, this could have been a great comedy, but as is, this one fails on all levels: It does not teach, it does not ponder, and it does not entertain. As it stands, this work does show some serious moments, but they are in the wrong places; the timing is all wrong, and even those with no sense of cinematic timing can feel that the pace is out of step.

All in all? This is nothing but sentimental, contrived schlock, which fails on all levels...though it DOES have heart.

It rates a 3.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.
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6/10
BOBO!!!!
JakeRfilmfreak10 March 2023
This movie is absolutely ridiculous, and has an absurd plot. But i remember me and my cousin watching this movie all the time when we were very little. And all these years later I still find it very humorous. I get that the comedy in the film isn't for everyone, but find it hard to believe that it couldn't make you chuckle a little.

The film stars Howie Mandel as Bobo, raised by wolves and now in his twenties should say enough. His brother Reggie played by Christopher Lloyd wants Bobos inheritance and will do whatever he can to get it.

In the end it's a lighthearted movie that's not the best in the world, but surely not the worst.
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5/10
It's Good Memories Kind of Movie
uscopyritellc25 July 2018
As a kid, I remember this movie as being hilarious. Back then we didn't need the high-tech special stuff movies have today that are so common. However, I do think the problems with this movie can be laid squarely on inadequate direction, not the acting or the actors and actresses themselves. The producer also has part of the blame, here. Ultimately, actors and actresses can only do as much as they can do--it is the director who is responsible for getting the whole team to get it together, the editors are supposed to catch the errors and screw-ups. All in all, this is a great movie for just a fun time, It's a trigger for some good memories for a whole generation, and the people who have an issue with this movie should be looking at the captains, not the team members individually, for dropping the ball repeatedly on this one. It is STILL hilarious, and it made my child laugh a great deal--and there is no better sound in the world than hearing the ones you love have fun with an old movie you remember from childhood. My advice? Lighten up, laugh more, and let things be what they are.
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grew up watching this one
joeyramone781 October 2001
"Walk Like A Man" has a special place in my heart, but not because it's a great (or even good, really) piece of cinema. It's just one of those films that you grow up seeing on HBO as a child every afternoon and, to a fat kid that didn't get out much, that's great entertainment. It's silly, sappy and, like most proper 80's flicks, would probably only be about 45 minutes long if you took out all of the "musical montages". I am not even going to bother with a plot summary-you wouldn't be reading this if you have not already seen the film. But I will say this: while watching it again recently as an adult who has graduated to the more sophisticated likes of Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman, I was shocked by how much I still enjoyed it! The cast is very funny and entertaining and they gamely tackle the silly material they are given. I especially liked the underrated Christopher Lloyd as the evil older brother and Colleen Camp as his lush of a wife. I don't know, maybe it's just the connotation of the film and the fond childhood memories of watching it that come with it, but continental tastes be damned-I like this lousy little film!
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1/10
If this movie was a horse, I'd have to shoot it...
dontjuststareatiteatit22 September 2005
Horrible, Horrible movie. I remember watching this movie as a kid and sorta liking it but then again I was 10. After visiting this movie at a later point in my life I realized how bad this really was. The story is about a boy(Bobo) who was separated as a baby from his millionaire father by falling out of a sled in the woods. Oddly enough, he's then raised by wolves who for go any natural instinct to eat him and instead decide, collectively to raise him as their own. Years later, he's found by this cute researcher who takes him, finds out his mother and brother are still alive and attempts to return him. Now, Bobo's brother is set to inherit all his father's money instead of only half if his brother isn't found by his 30th birthday. Naturally, his brother doesn't want him return. There then comes a extremely boring section where we see this researcher trying to educate Bobo. Horrible, not funny, and inconsistent. Not only that but it seems as if the crew of the film were trying to be seen in this movie. I could count at least three occasions where I could see the boom mike on the screen and at least one occasion where I can see the camera man on screen. But whatever, even The Godfather had its mistakes. What bothers me more is the fact that the comedy seems contrived and Bobo's mental state seems to shift around in the movie. At one point, he's a bumbling idiot, the next moment he's arguing a case in court and then he's back again to being the idiot. Do not see this movie, see something like the Big Lebowski to see a good comedy. This is garbage.
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1/10
Makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Citizen Kane
classicalsteve30 September 2007
Plan 9 From Outer Space by the notorious filmmaker Ed Wood was so bad it was good, a laugh a-minute because it was intended to be serious. Sure, the acting was atrocious, and some of the sets were hysterical, but that's what makes it so unbelievably hilarious even today. "Walk Like a Man" can't hold a candle to the film-making wizardry that is Plan 9 From Outer Space. The wannabe comedic antics appear like they were written by a seven-year-old who overdosed on Ovalteen or a college freshman who took one too many hits of Metamucil on a Saturday night! The result is a movie that is supposed to be comedy that instead of making you laugh makes you cringe as every pathetic line that tries to be funny is outdone by an even more pathetic line. I mean, just when you think the movie can't get any worse, it passes all expectation by becoming even more unbelievably stupid by the minute.

The relatively impressive cast of Christopher Lloyd and Cloris Leachman. cannot save this bottom of the barrel embarrassment masquerading as a movie. I've seen first graders write stuff more clever than this. The "lines" of dialog, which seem more akin to banter at a college fraternity party than a written script are just about as bad as they come. The writers must have worked very hard to come up with the worst jokes and cliché lines that Hollywood has ever attempted.

The only thing more ridiculous than the movie itself is the premise. A family strikes it rich in the gold country, and as they are driving their sled through the snow back to civilization, they "accidentally" lose their youngest son! Well, it looks like he's pushed off the sled by his older brother so he can have more of the gold they discovered! Twenty-eight years later, the brother, nicknamed Bobo, is discovered by an animal scientist among a pack of wolves, but he doesn't act as much like a wolf as the filmmakers want you to believe. Actually wolves have a certain reserved dignity about them. The guy who thinks he's a wolf really isn't acting like a wolf at all, more like a deranged bull dog who scratches himself in funny parts of his body, if he's not licking new acquaintances on their chins. I don't buy that the wolves would have accepted this guy either! I think the wolves took one look at him and went, "Get this creep out of here!"

Christopher Lloyd plays, or maybe barely animates, the brother (the one who pushed him off the sled 28 years earlier) who is a cross between Scrooge and Atilla the Hun. He has tons of money from the inheritance of the gold, we presume, and this slothful impetuous monster is hated by everyone. He makes Bertie Wooster (of Jeeves and Wooster) appear like an intellectual saint. Not even his mother, Cloris Leachman, shows much love but rather appears to be on the verge of either slipping into a coma, or becoming a cat, a fate not unlike her "wolfish" grandchild! Instead of taking care of herself, she dotes on her kitties! The plot revolves around whether or not the "canine" brother can inherit his part of the money, or else stay like a, er, "wolf", I guess. Or is he more like a dog who thinks he's a wolf? Or is it the other way around?

When Bobo finally "comes home" and starts licking Christopher Lloyd's face off, it became clear to me that the projector lights may be on but nobody's home. Or maybe this "movie" is a few screwballs short of a funny farm. On "Sneak Previews", the original show featuring film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, they always had a "dog of the week", usually a film so outrageously embarrassing that it earned a quick loving remark at the end of the show. This movie gets my vote for the dog of the century, in more ways than one.
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1/10
Horrible then, horrible now.
Spence-1025 July 2002
I had to review this film here, as terrible as it is, just because all of the other reviews were positive. This movie is positive, positively terrible. I saw it in 87 and loathed it then, and I'm absolutely sure that it is just as bad now. Bad acting, bad jokes, bad premise. Not funny. I could go on, but it's not worth the effort to write about. The IMDB ranking of 3.7 says it all. (and it's too high, I tell ya)
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7/10
A laugh-out-loud flick.
Roadwarrior858466 August 2007
If you ever feel like watching a movie for just pure fun and just taking a step out of serious stuff in most movies, this is the movie you must see. The 80's cheese makes this movie so funny!

Its all about a baby boy, nicknamed Bobo, that has been banished by his older brotherinto the wilderness and then gets raised by wolves.28 years later a scientist goes into the woods to study a pack of wolves until she stumble upon the human wolf. Bringing him back to civilization, she teaches Bobo to read, talk, walk, and write his name in the favor for Bobo's mischievous brother to sign some papers to have $30,000,000 from their late father's savings into his own money instead of splitting the money down the middle. And thats where the wackiness begins. Notice the 80's story plot?

I'm not a man that is into mindless movies like Dude Where's My Car?, Bill & Ted Excellent Adventure, or Harold and Kumar Goes to White Castle for examples. But this movie, which somewhat fits into this category, makes me never get tired of watching it. It's just pure fun! 7/10
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10/10
Starts slow - But is absolutely hilarious after the first 20 minutes!
TrustNoOneKMC1 August 2007
I watched this movie when I was a kid 20 years ago. I just rented it the other night for my nephews, and it still had me laughing out loud. I admit, it starts somewhat slow, until Howie Mandel's character gets more screen time. About 20 minutes into it, and we were all laughing for the rest of the evening. Most of todays so called comedies are trash. With the exception of a few swear words (sh!t and a$$hole), this movie is great for all ages. The 5 of us - 9,10,14,29, and 32 all watched it and were were laughing aloud all night. I can't explain the low ratings, unless people just watched the first 15 or so minutes and didn't watch it all the way through. But this movie is a comedy classic!
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7/10
Lot of laughs in this movie.
ImRickJamesBitch4 November 2006
I really like this movie. I am surprised this movie has not received a better rating. It has many funny moments. I especially like the scenes with Cloris Leachman and Howie Mandell. The church scene had me crackin' up hard. I liked the foiled attempts that Christopher Lloyd would make on BoBo's (Howie Mandell) life. Colleen Camp was a good supporting character as his whiskey swiggin' wife. It is one of those movies that hardly anyone has heard about because if they did, you would have a fairly long conversation about it no matter good or bad.

On that note: Every time I see this movie, it cracks me up. If you don't then just remember..."We all see things through different eyez right???"

I'm out! Nuttin' more to say here!

Here's my quote though: "I think Mr.Mandella smoked my drugs!"

Here's my name too: ImRickJamesBitch
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10/10
Great Movie
gmdmb317 May 2007
This is a great movie i strongly suggest that you pick it up if you get the chance it is exactly what a movie should be an escape from reality do not listen to all the people badmouthing it the only reason they do so is because they either have no sense of humor or they think that the only thing that people should watch is social commentaries and reality shows i personally think that movies need to go back to this state where it was about the movie itself and not just the special effects i think it is sad that most modern day movies rely only on the eye candy, this movie is a great movie to sit down in front of and just forget the outside world exists at all
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Dog S***.
tfrizzell26 June 2004
If there was a more annoying performer in the 1980s than Howie Mandel I sure do not remember him. This time Mandel is a young man who has been raised by a pack of wolves after he was accidentally left behind during a camping trip when he was a very young boy. He is found by animal researcher Amy Steel and she tries to teach him the ways of humans that he has been away from. Naturally he reunites with his mother (Cloris Leachman) and his demented older brother (Christopher Lloyd). Lloyd tries and tries to keep Mandel from getting half of his elderly mother's inheritance while Mandel is totally oblivious to what is going on and what is expected of him. Soon Lloyd decides it will be easier to skip all the legalities and just have Mandel killed instead. Comedy that is just not funny here. Mandel tries to dominate the action, and does, but the movie is a smelly dog from top to bottom. This is a total waste of film and effort (what little was put in). One of the many downers of the mid-1980s. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).
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10/10
One Of The Best Movie's I've Ever Experienced!
Canis_Lupus23 March 2005
This is a totally awesome movie not because of awesome special effects, not because it is particularly well written, not because it is at all believable because trust me it's not very realistic at all. The Walk Like A Man works because, it is funny and it has an awesome message. I am very disabled and this movie shows why it is OK to be different. The movie shows how sometimes what people see as different is in many ways better than what most people call "normal". For all Walk Like A Man Lacks in traditional movie POP and FIZZ it makes up for in its message of heart. The movie is more slap stick comedy than serious. If you want a more serious Boy Raised by Wolves Tale I would suggest LUCAN.

This is a movie to watch if you still have the heart of child like innocence and you are down and just wanting to feel good afterward. This is not the movie for those who want something deep, meaningful and spiritual. Walk Like A Man is an hour or so of weird fun with an awesome message at the end. I brought a copy of Walk Like A Man from Amazon.COM on DVD and at 46 I still enjoy watching it, but who knows if I will ever grow up.
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A great 80s movie like this, only gets one reveiw ???
dark171418 April 2001
man......this was one of those movies I watched like everyday when i was a kid! its great movie, that never gets old! I come on here to look at the reveiew and guess what ?? there is only one review.......geez I'd think that since this is such a good movie and considering it was made in 1987 when i was 6 by the way, that it would have more reviews...........there lots of funny scenes in this movie too! so go watch it, and come back here and review it for freddy krueger's Sake! hehehe
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10/10
My thought of the movie.
shexxietina-xo28 January 2006
well personally.. i don't know why you people are so hating against this movie. I found nothing wrong with it. I enjoyed it. its a good old movie.. we are just so used to how movies are today.. with like comedy that makes us laugh cause its dirty and it how we talk with our friends or something .. this is good old fashioned comedy thats all. I liked how the movie had its twists and turns, and the fact that he keeps changing from human to animal like made it more affective because it shows the struggles people go through. It wouldn't be simple to change right into a human and do human things after you've been living in the woods with wolves for 28 years. Thats a long time. So whatever. I enjoyed this movie.
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I caught this on TV and I want those two hours of my life back.
lunatickittyn12 October 2004
Seriously. This movie was absolutely horrible. I knew I was in for a real treat (yes, that's extreme sarcasm) when I started rolling my eyes 2 minutes after it started and the young Bobo whines, "Have a heart, Pa, it's cold!" Yes. Because when I was 5, I always walked around telling my parents to "have a heart."

The dialogue, the situations the characters get themselves into, and, of course, the unrelentingly terrible plot are all beyond clichéd and very ridiculous. Don't even get me started on the acting. I see that Howie Mandel's shilling for Boston Pizza now. I can't decide where his acting is worse, in that or in this.

Bah. I don't even want to review this anymore, it's just making me relive a painful two hours that I just want to forget.

I'm going to go scrub my eyes with soap now.

Don't even watch this if it's on T.V., check out something more intellectually and visually stimulating. Like an infomercial.
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10/10
A wonderful movie
samijo-0078516 July 2018
Really loved this movie it is just so hard to fine. Any of the Internet stations can't find it on Netflix can't find it on Amazon just can't seem to find it anywhere if anybody has any recommendations please let me know
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No laughs
AlexanderDragon28 January 2004
Reading over the other comments for "Walk like a man," almost every positive comment is associated with childhood memories of this film. I never saw it as a child. I just watch it recently (on TV). This is a predictable, sappy and tiresome movie, with bland slap-stick humour and simple jokes. It wouldn't surprise me if children enjoyed this movie giving rise to fond memories, but adults wont come away with anything positive.

"Walk like a man" is a comedy about a man, named Bobo (Howie Mandel), who, raised by wolves for 28 years, is found and brought back to live with his brother, Reggie (Christopher Lloyd). Bobo is trained to be more civilized by a scientist named Penny, the woman who found him, while his brother plots a method to get at Bobo's half of their father's inheritance. Bobo acts like a wolf for most of the picture and causes mayhem pretty well everywhere he goes which quickly gets boring. Bobo goes to the country club. Will he cause trouble? Bobo goes to the lawyer. Will he cause trouble? Bobo attends a dinner party. Will he cause trouble? The movie even starts to play on its own predictable routine.

There wasn't a moment in this film where I laughed. I couldn't get passed the boring routine and how everything happens for predictable laughs. Despite being a satire on "Tarzan," that lack of any laughs made the unrealistic events stand out where a good comedy should've let me look beyond them. The subplots, such as Bobo constantly ruining the neighbours cement driveway and a love story between Bobo and Penny, just aren't funny, nor touching, nor interesting. "Walk like a man" is a dull comedy worth skipping (even on TV).
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10/10
Very Enjoyable Comedy
imma_rocker-195-79177625 October 2011
This was a movie i did not see until recently. It was that movie i always saw at the video store but never decided to see it. I was familiar with Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future and Howie Mandel creating Bobby's World, which is why i always looked at the cover. A few months ago I ended up getting curious when I saw it on Netflix and decided to watch it. Boy am I ever sorry i left this out of my childhood. It is a very clever tale of Howie Mandel returning to society after being raised by wolves, enough said.

Christopher Lloyd plays a former millionaire heir who blew his entire fortune. He plans to get rich again from his brother's fortune share. The rule was if Bobo is still lost as of his 30th birthday, his share will be given to his brother. Needless to say Bobo is discovered several weeks before his birthday. Bobo is retrained into society and becomes a victim of his brothers plans to rip him off. surprisingly has identifiable faces including Amy Steel from Friday the 13th Part 2 and Earl Boen from The Terminator. I say if you enjoy nostalgic movies, give this one a watch, it's a fun movie and has surprisingly good jokes.
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Not Deathless Art But Kind of Fun
sutherla-16 March 2006
Walk Like a Man isn't Man for All Seasons or Return of the King or Philadelphia, but it's a pleasant diversion. It helps to be half brain-dead to watch it - kind of a tired Friday night film.

Howie Mandel is amazingly physical as a boy raised by wolves. It is believable that his subsequent chronic back problems emanated from tearing around on a leash, sitting on people's heads, eating sloppily at a formal dinner, chasing fire trucks, sniffing crotches and scrambling over objects. Bobo is innocent, spontaneous and good. Cloris Leachman is perfect as Bobo's not quite there mother. Watching them try to learn puzzles together or howl together is enchanting - a real apple:tree connection.

This is not a deathless movie, but it has some fine laugh out loud moments. It's hard to believe that Howie Mandel isn't part wolf.
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10/10
Great movie
john-4547727 July 2019
This is a very funny movie, I just watched it for the first time last week and I really enjoyed it
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funny and he is very cute
kasper-321 December 1998
Funny story and great roles. I like to recommend it a lot
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10/10
Under Rated Comedy
darkshadows-9916020 February 2022
This is absolutely one of my favorite Comedies, a late 80s and 90s fixture on HBO and The Movie Channel. This movie needs to be talked about more then it does.
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crazy movie
prettylady2803416 March 2011
I watched this when I was a kid also. I liked it more when I was a kid then I do know. Now I think it's stupid and so corny. But it can also be considered a classic like Howard The Duck. One of the movies that brings me back to my childhood. Guidelines for movies have changed. There are a few movies that you can look back on and realize that your opinion of it has changed. Like growing up and seeing things in a different way. Three Amigos and Harry And The Hendersons are also two others I think of in the same way. Short Circuit is one too. Really too many movies to think of. Rarely do movies these days have the corniness factor to them like the movies I just listed and more that don't come to mind. I could go on and on. The 80's was I believe the last original decade for anything. Most just repeats itself. I could laugh at those movies now though more than ever and wonder why I ever took them so seriously.
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