Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-review by Professor Popinjay

I get these mixed up with the Cheaper by the Dozen films. I’m not fond of those but we’ll get to them eventually.

Today I’ll be considering the 1968 Yours, Mine and Ours film in comparison to the 2005 remake titled similarly as Yours, Mine & Ours.

I do wish they had considered the Oxford comma for this title of possessive pronouns but at least they were consistent from one version to the other. One could argue it should read “Ours, Yours and Mine” if they wanted to avoid the ambiguity created by the lack of the Oxford comma and have it make sense in the context of the film. At least it isn’t titled “My Parents, Ayn Rand and God.”

Sorry. I suppose I should have been an English teacher instead of whatever the hell I am. Professional Bullshitter? Yeah, that fits.

This is an interesting comparison though, and for more reasons than just me telling you it’s interesting. In most cases regarding an original film and its remake, one is infinitely superior to the other. Most often it’s the original which is better. I’ve explained why that is in several articles about Winnie the Pooh and I’ll be darned if I’m gonna explain it again.

In this case however, I feel like both movies have their merits and demerits and culminate into a decent film when watched back to back.

If you’re unfamiliar, first: just go watch them! Second, it’s about a guy who is introduced to a woman by a mischievous friend and they hit it off really well but eventually they reveal to each other that they each have a gaggle of children at home. Despite their attraction and chemistry, they try to politely go their separate ways considering their humorous and overwhelming home situations. Their mischievous mutual friend however finds their whole affair hilarious and continues to covertly play matchmaker.

The original stars Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Henry is a bit of a blank slate but Lucy kills it in this role. She is as funny as ever. Unfortunately, once the resolution to the story comes, the story keeps going and ends on what I would call kind of a sad note. It’s rather anticlimactic.

They (gnomes) must have considered this factor for the remake because the 2005 version has a big whoopty-doo for a climax and ends on a high note. Frankly it made up for alot of the film’s shortcomings. Not that it was particularly bad. It just didn’t feature Lucille Ball so I’m slightly biased.

Unfortunately the only person who can live up to any of Lucille Ball’s performance is Fran Dresher but they didn’t get her for the remake.

They got Rene Russo who is not funny; like, at all… ever.

They did however get David Koechner as the knowing friend with the mischievous sense of humor who hooks up Rene with Dennis Quaid. Koechner is hilarious no matter what he’s doing. Some may remember David as Champ Kind in Anchorman (2004) or Howard Jackson Sr. in Krampus (2015). He was outrageously funny in both.

Dennis Quaid was at least more interesting than Fonda and sells well the comedic version of a no-nonsense hardass career military type.

Ultimately I like both versions, one for Lucy and the other for a well written ending.

Optional Tangent: I think I connect with both these films for one common reason. I once found myself alone with five children to care for, two of whom were still in diapers and one of whom had been breastfeeding when he was suddenly cut off cold turkey. I certainly wasn’t interested in dating immediately (as if I’d had the time, money or energy) but when I did get to that point it was a strange prospect.

When you have any precious treasures to care for (even just one) you have to be careful whom you allow into their lives, whom you put into authority over them, whom you permit to share the same living quarters. If you’re parenting correctly, then you know it’s a delicate balance between self-sacrificing for the kids sake while showing by example how to maintain good boundaries. I couldn’t end up with someone solely interested in me who always wanted to shuffle the kids off on someone else.

Thankfully, I was very blessed, like the characters in these films, to find someone who cares deeply for these kids. Sometimes I’m on the back burner so the kids’ needs are met and that’s good. Sometimes we DO send the kids to grandma and grandpa so we can have an adult conversation and eat at a restaurant not endorsed by a clown.

The concept of “yours, mine and ours” can be unpleasant when referring specifically to the single bathroom in our house and I can definitely relate to the expressions of the parents on these films’ boxarts.

However, while it’s nice to have things we can call “yours and mine”, I find even more valuable than the rare and fleeting (and often intangible) things we can call “ours” are the people who make the term a necessity.

The parents in these films understand the importance of that concept. The children eventually learn it. The responsibility to take care of each other; that’s ours… and we’re blessed to have it.

How’s THAT for smarmy sentimentality, Winnie the Pooh circa 1997!?!