Mama's Boy

Eccentric Jeffrey Mannus is a 29-year-old book store clerk who still lives with his mother Jan. His father died when he was young, so he has clung to her tightly. He sees no reason to alter this arrangement, but his perfect world is upended when Jan meets Mert Rosenbloom.

Mert is a motivational speaker who successfully woos Jan after she attends his talk on the power of positivity. He moves in on what Jeffrey perceives as his territory, something he will not tolerate. While at a coffee shop, Jeffrey finds a friend in one of the workers, aspiring singer-songwriter Nora Flannagan. They share a cynical, negative perception of the world.

Jeffrey approaches a man working in a computer shop to dig up dirt on Mert. He pays him half the price he asked to do it so, when Mert comes into the shop to buy bribes to win Jeffrey over, the guy spills the beans. Mert changes his tactics, declaring a kind of war against Jeffrey.

Upon Mert's suggestion, Jan moves Jeffrey out of his room and into the basement. When they start going at it, not wanting to hear them he goes out to Nora's gig. Initially cold to him, once he apologizes they for a coffee after. Upon dropping Jeffrey off, Mert invites Nora to a bbq at the house on the weekend.

At the house that weekend, Jan is extremely enthusiastic when Nora comes. She shows her old albums of Jeffrey, and she sees he has always had weight and attachment issues. Mert and he make disparaging digs at each other the whole time, and Mert also insinuates that Nora is not trying hard enough to be a success.

The animosity escalates, with both pranking one another until they get engaged and announce they are going to sell the house for something smaller. Desperate, Jeffrey interrupts Nora's recording of her demo to enlist her aid to follow a lead in Arizona. Maya Sinclair turns out to be Mert's estranged daughter, who'd he'd abandoned at 12. Nora is furious when she discovers that he used her to get rid of Mert.

Something unprecedented happens — slowly, to both his own surprise and horror, Jeffrey discovers his inner self. However, before this happens, Jeffrey and Mert get into a fist fight in Jan's home, causing her to break up with Mert when she hears about Maya. Jeffrey is pleased, but Jan kicks him out of the house. He goes to find Nora, who is currently upset with him for being such a "jerk", so does not offer any help.

Jeffrey lives on the streets, but is eventually arrested for urinating in a sink. Seymour, his former boss from the bookstore, comes to the rescue and pays his bail, also allowing him to move in with him. Jeffrey realizes his errors and fights to get Jan and Mert back together. After achieving this, he goes to stop the bus that Nora is travelling on, as she is leaving for college, in his new car. He parks it in the middle of the road and stands on the hood, holding up a radio that is playing one of Nora's favorite songs. The bus driver makes Nora talk to him and they make up. They then drive off into the distance.

• Jon Heder - Jeffrey Mannus
• Diane Keaton - Jan Mannus
• Jeff Daniels - Mert Jacob Rosenbloom
• Anna Faris - Nora Flannagan
• Sarah Chalke - Maya
• Dorian Missick - Mitch
• Eli Wallach - Seymour Warburton
• Mary Kay Place - Barbera
• Simon Helberg - Rathkon

The film was greatly panned by critics, receiving a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 8% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 3.4/10.[2]

The film made $688,145 in foreign markets.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mama's Boy.

• Mama's Boy at IMDb
• Mama's Boy at Rotten Tomatoes