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Life with Mikey

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Life with Mikey
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Lapine
Written byMarc Lawrence
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRob Hahn
Edited byRobert Leighton
Music byAlan Menken
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • June 4, 1993 (1993-06-04)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$12.4 million[1]

Life with Mikey (also known as Give Me a Break) is a 1993 American comedy film directed by James Lapine and written by Marc Lawrence. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Cyndi Lauper and Christina Vidal in her film acting debut.

Plot

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Mikey Chapman is a former child star from a 1970s sitcom. Now a talent agent for child stars, Mikey discovers Angie Vega, a girl who pick-pockets for money and lives with her teenage sister and her boyfriend. Together, they try to hit it big and earn her a role on a series of television commercials.

Cast

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Production

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Marc Lawrence came up with the premise for Life with Monkey after reflecting on his five years working as a writer and supervising producer on Family Ties and decided to write a screenplay about a character in a similar transitional stage in their career.[2] Producer Scott Rudin became involved with the project in 1989.[2] The Walt Disney Company briefly considered putting the film into turnaround, but after Eddie Murphy expressed interest in the film this led to Disney changing their minds.[2] Theatre director James Lapine was hired to direct the film and also brought on several cast and crew for the film who had worked in theater with Lapine.[2]

In May 1992, it was reported that Michael J. Fox would star in the Marc Lawrence scripted Life with Mikey for Touchstone Pictures.[3] After completing For Love or Money, Fox exercised an option in his contract with Universal Pictures allowing him to work with an outside studio and accepted the offer from Disney.[4] Christina Vidal was not cast until two weeks before production was slated to commence.[2]

Reception

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The film received generally negative reviews.[5][6][7][8] Review aggregator RottenTomatoes reports that 25% of the 12 critics gave the film a positive review, with 3 fresh and 9 rotten review, with a rating average of 4.05 out of 10.[9]

Box office

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The film debuted at number 7 at the US box office.[10][11][12][13]

References

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  1. ^ Life with Mikey at Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ a b c d e "Life with Mikey (1993)". AFI. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  3. ^ "Warners preps for presidency". Variety. Archived from the original on March 28, 2025. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  4. ^ Fox, Michael J. (2002). Lucky Man: A Memoir. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6764-6.
  5. ^ Rainer, Peter (1993-06-04). "MOVIE REVIEWS: A Fox Steals the Show in Too-Cute 'Life' - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  6. ^ "Life With Mikey :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 1993-06-04. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  7. ^ Maslin, Janet (1993-06-04). "Life with Mikey". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  8. ^ "'Life With Mikey' (PG)". Washingtonpost.com. 1993-06-04. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  9. ^ "Life with Mikey". Rotten Tomatoes.
  10. ^ DAVID J. FOX (1993-06-08). "Weekend Box Office: 'Cliffhanger', 'America' Hold On". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  11. ^ DAVID J. FOX (1993-06-15). "Weekend Box Office: Universal's Monster Smash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  12. ^ Fox, David J. (1993-06-21). "'Hero': When $15 Million Isn't Quite Enough: Movie box office: By Hollywood standards, the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle opens poorly. But Columbia is 'very, very, very happy with it'. - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  13. ^ DAVID J. FOX (1993-06-22). "Weekend Box Office: 'Proposal' Joins the $100-Million Club". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
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