Following his parents divorce, Jake Livingston (Christopher Collet) is suddenly the “man of the house“. Taking his newfound role quite seriously, Jake is highly protective of his mother, Wendy (Teri Garr) and his younger brother, Brian (Corey Haim). When Jake's father rides into town to take the family out for dinner, everyone is excited. Wendy is especially hopeful and spends the day cleaning the house and spending extra time on her appearance. When Alan finally arrives, he is polite but rushed, explaining that his girlfriend Joanne is waiting in the car. Jake immediately sees the surprise and hurt on his mother's face, but Wendy pastes on a big smile, wishing everyone a good time. During dinner, Alan drops the bombshell to Jake and Brian that he and Joanne are getting married in a few weeks. The boys return home and Jake finds Wendy sitting on the couch, staring vacantly into space and looking miserable. All hope is now lost on Wendy and Alan ever reconciling.
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Jake confides to his girlfriend Lisa (Sarah Jessica Parker) that that his mother's loneliness bothers him. He wishes his mother's former boyfriend, Russ, were still in the picture. Lisa tells Jake that while Russ was great, it is time for Wendy to move on. And move on Wendy does. A few mornings later while eating breakfast, Jake and Brian hear odd noises coming from upstairs. Moments later, a half-clothed, disheveled-looking stranger comes stumbling into the kitchen. He nervously introduces himself as Sam (Peter Weller), explaining that he is a new friend of their mother. Sam is not too thrilled; he did not want to meet the boys in this embarrassing way. Brian, not knowing what to make of the situation, quickly leaves for the bus. Jake, who is confused as well, suggests Sam try herbal tea instead of the coffee he is searching for in the cabinets. “It might make you less jumpy”, Jake tells Sam.
A few nights later, a fully dressed Sam talks with Jake in the living room. Sam apologizes again for the awkward way they met and Jake begins questioning Sam, mainly about what he does for a living. Sam mentions something about being in security for home alarm systems, but Jake really does not care. He thinks Sam is joke. Wendy, however, is experiencing a rebirth of sorts. She is a cheerful and enthusiastic bundle of energy, cooking delicious dinners and baking tasty desserts. During a barbecue one afternoon, Sam mentions he would love to open a restaurant someday, with Wendy's help. Jake is just letting Sam's nonsense go in one ear and out the other until Sam mentions that he will speak to Wendy about possibly buying Jake a much coveted motorbike. When the bike finally shows up in the driveway a few days later, Jake begins to change his mind about Sam. Sam moves in with the Livingstons soon afterwards.
Jake's opinion is short-lived when he awakes one night to the sounds of a raucous party. When Jakes creeps downstairs to investigate, he shockingly sees both his mother and Sam snorting cocaine. When Jake goes downstairs the next morning, he is disgusted to find Wendy and Sam sleeping on the couch and the normally pristine house in complete disarray. The times are a changing and Jake does not like it one bit.
The cocaine addiction soon turns into excessive cocaine dealing. While Wendy is experiencing dramatic changes, Jake is really feeling the brunt of the situation, getting into fights with friends and teachers and having to bail Brian out of trouble at school. Jake can clearly see the destruction and devastation that loser Sam is doing to his family. There is room for only one real man in the house and now Jake must protect and fight for what is rightfully his.
The review of this Movie prepared by Tara Dugan
