Congratulations, It's a Boy! (1971 TV Movie) User Reviews (6)

Lighthearted and shallow but fun

[ODDBear · 7/10 · 4 September 2007]

Bill Bixby plays Johnny Gains, a swinging bachelor who one day learns he's the father of a 17 year old boy.

Lighthearted TV-movie of the week brings up some tough issues and handles it in a very superficial way. The father/son relationship could have used more screen time (after all it's only 73 minutes) and development and it, like most of the film, is pretty shallow stuff.

But Bixby's natural charm shines and he gives a good performance, as do all the cast, and ensure that those 73 minutes go by pleasantly. I thought the ending was particularly nice and capped the film off well. If you're a fan of Bixby you should enjoy this, others proceed with low expectations and they might just find it entertaining.

Somewhat uneven, but overall okay

[Wizard-8 · 29 January 2013]

The basic plot of "Congratulations, It's a Boy!" - a man finding out he has a grown-up son - wasn't new even back in 1971 when this movie was made. Still, the movie overall manages to be a competent telling of this old story. The movie has some big faults - Bill Bixby's character finds out he has a son in the first five minutes of the movie, so we don't really get to see how this changes his character. Also, there is less interaction shown between Bixby's and Darrell Larson's than you might think. On the other hand, their few scenes do have some genuine dramatic weight to them, and are surprisingly effective at times. Also, the movie isn't totally serious - there is some comic relief, and this comedy is genuinely funny at times. In the end, the movie is an okay way to pass 73 minutes of your time.

It's just kinda there.

[archi_cianfrocco · 4/10 · 15 August 2008]

Bill Bixby plays Johnny Gaines, a 37 year old man who never quite grew up. He works for his parents and spends his free time dating hot chicks, driving around in a cool car and partying down. One day a 17 year old comes to Johnny's pad and says Johnny is his father. Seems Johnny had a fling with a girl when he was 18 or 19 and this boy, B.J., was the result of that fling.

The movie deals with everybody either coming to terms with Johnny having a kid or the fact that Johnny himself is a kid. A man who never quite grew up. B.J. is actually more mature and responsible than Johnny is.

After a bunch of bland dialogue and scenes that don't carry the emotional punch they should, Johnny finally comes to terms with the fact that he needs to grow up and accept the fact that he has a son and that he needs to be a part of the boy's life.

The reason I gave the movie a 4 is because, as I mentioned earlier, the scenes in the film that should be intense, with raw emotions, are whitewashed and we just get a few sentences of bland dialogue. I don't think anybody in the movie ever shed a tear. It moves along at a good pace, but that, and the groovy decorations and clothes in the movie, are its only redeeming qualities. It's not bad, as in you feel like you're being tortured by watching it, but it's not good either. It's just kinda there.

Not a way to spend father's day.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 7 May 2021]

If you can get past a truly weak opening, you might find yourself getting into this past the introduction of confirmed playboy Bill Bixby to his illegitimate son (Darrell Larson) which has absolutely no build up and lays there like an unhatchable egg. A few scenes into the movie, it does begin to show potential as Bixby begins to show some interest in the young man whose mother is dead and who is very Christian and shocked when one of Bixby's girlfriends wants to share a shower with him.

High marks are given to the casting of Jack Albertson and Anne Sothern as Bixby's wealthy parents with Albertson a power holding businessman and Sothern a dizzy socialite who loves interfering in his romantic life. She's obviously trying to push him together with his beautiful secretary, Diane Baker, but her methods are rather embarrassing which makes her a fun character you're glad you do not know. When they see Bixby with Larson, they assume that he's gay and this leads to a series of ridiculous scenes that shows how out of touch his parents are as well as the writer even taking the film down to this level.

My issue with this film is that the whole plot line feels forced and everything is accepted simply because it is written in the script. This is what is referred to as "paint by numbers" where the writer sings that the audience will believe the entire situation just because they are witnessing it. Bixby's acting comes off as forced and awkward at the beginning but he seems to gradually feel comfortable, and while Larson isn't exactly very strong as an actor here, he does make you like him. So in spite of flaws, this is watchable, but there's a sense of missed opportunities that could have been explored, especially with Larson being an extremely young conservative and Bixby being a complete out there liberal.

Eh

[BandSAboutMovies · 2/10 · 17 November 2023]

Directed by William A. Graham (Return to the Blue Lagoon, Change of Habit) and written by Stanley Z. Cherry, this movie finds Johnny Gaines (Bill Bixby) learning that he has a son named B. J. (Darrell Larson) whom he's never known, all while he's still sleeping with 16-year-olds. Or nearly sleeping with them, as his kid shows up right before his initials happen to his dad.

Johnny is still a boy, protected by his father Al (Jack Albertson) and mother Ethel (Ann Sothern) who are starting to wonder why their son doesn't want to settle down with Edye (Diane Baker). Can Johnny settle down and become a father to the son he never knew while maybe not being someone who double books dates and tries to get his son drunk to go out with someone as his replacement?

Plus: Tom Bosley as Edye's dad and Judy Strangis in the cast (she was Dyna Girl!).

Johnny...the perennial child.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 25 January 2017]

Johnny (Bill Bixby) is a thoroughly self-absorbed playboy. Despite nearing 40, he spends most of his free time chasing very young girls and trying to have a good time. However, his carefree lifestyle is about to be rocked, as one day a guy shows up at his door...and it turns out to be his 17 year-old son, BJ (Darrell Larson). That is, it turns out to be his son that he never knew existed. It turns out that one of his many, many one-night-stands long ago resulted in a son. Now that the young man's mother died, he has no family he can live with and so he's come looking for his biological father.

The young man is incredibly idealistic and he expects that he and Johnny will become just like father and son. However, Johnny isn't emotionally equipped to do anything other than have a good time and it soon becomes obvious that Johnny would rather NOT have a son. He also, sadly, can't even recall his son's mother. Soon, Johnny ends up alienating himself from two of the women in his life as well as this son. What's to come of this? Will Johnny step up and act like a man or will he just continue being a teenager stuck in a man's body?

This film is pretty modern in some of its sensibilities. It's pretty casual about sex and even has references to homosexuality....something very risqué for the time. But it also has some depth to it...despite the sexually charged nature of the film it also has a lot to say about masculinity and responsibility. Because of the depth you see later in the film, it makes this film much deeper than it really appeared to be at first. Well worth seeing and try to ignore the kooky beginning...there's more to it than that.