Walk Like a Man(1987)

Submitted by Tornado Dragon

As Bobo/Robert (Howie Mandel) comes to behave more like a man thanks to Penny’s (Amy Steel) help and guidance, he and Penny eventually fall in love, and she kisses him outside the door of his family’s house when they return from a nice long walk one night. After she goes inside to do some work, Bobo starts to howl and hop around the front yard in sheer joy, but in his excitement, he rolls around in the still-wet cement of the driveway belonging to the next-door neighbor, Bub (George DiCenzo), for the third time in the film. However, Bub catches him in the act this time, and he runs towards Bobo with a golf club intending to do him some harm, but Bobo escapes into the back yard of his house. Bub then goes to the front door and angrily shouts for Reggie (Christopher Lloyd) to open it, then smashes one of the windows next to the door with his golf club to ensure that he gets Reggie’s attention. Reggie opens the door to find out what all of the commotion is about, and Bub screams at him that he caught his brother rolling around in his wet cement, so now he intends to take Reggie to court and sue him for $100,000 and also get Bobo put in jail, thinking him to be insane and dangerous.

After he leaves, Reggie goes into a panic, and his wife, Rhonda (Colleen Camp), hears this and slaps him in the face to calm him down. After Reggie explains to Rhonda what Bub just threatened him with, he informs her that, if Bobo gets put in jail, he won’t be able to sign the papers that will give him all of the rights to Bobo’s $30 million inheritance. Rhonda thus suggests that the best way for them to get their hands on that money would be to get Bobo declared legally insane and then committed to a psychiatric hospital. She then devises a plan where they will host a formal dinner party at the house in Bobo’s honor, and one of the guests will be her father, Walter (Stephen Elliott), a respected psychiatrist. They will then keep Penny separate from Bobo at the dinner table and get Bobo drunk, figuring that, if Bobo were intoxicated, he will very likely regress to his dog-like tendencies in front of everyone. This will convince her father that Bobo needs to be institutionalized, and she and Reggie will be free and clear of any blame.

Sure enough, their plan works, and Penny ends up going outside with the drunken Bobo to give him some time away from everyone when his behavior gets too out of control. When the dinner concludes shortly afterwards, Walter tells Reggie that Bobo is nothing but a lunatic, and he will see to it that he gets put away. After he leaves, Reggie excitedly shouts to Rhonda over how their plan succeeded and how Bobo will be locked away for good now, and Rhonda tells him to get rid of Penny. However, neither of them are aware that Penny has overheard everything they just said. Reggie promptly dismisses Penny, and while she is on her way out, she gives Reggie a note to pass along to Bobo explaining her departure. However, once she is gone, Reggie tears up the note and makes Bobo believe that she deserted him.

At a court hearing to determine Bobo’s sanity, the judge is about ready to rule against the downhearted Bobo, but then Penny – who was (apparently) thrown out of the courtroom for earlier outbursts – re-enters the room and tells everyone present that Bobo is not crazy and that Reggie is trying to swindle him out of his inheritance. She explains to the judge that she must let her speak for Bobo because he cannot defend himself here, and he thinks that Reggie has deceived him and that she has abandoned him. But, regardless of that, Bobo is filled with more decency and kindness than anyone here, and she regrets having taken him away from his home in the wild and rushed his education.

To try to discredit her, Reggie’s lawyer, Mollins (Earl Boen), reads off some of the notes that she wrote while educating Bobo where she states that she is in love with him, but she does not deny it and admits that she still does love him. His emotions stirred from this revelation, Bobo stands up and tells the judge that he wants to speak. He first asks her if she thinks that it is bad to chase after a fire truck (which he likes to do), and after she replies that there is nothing truly wrong with it, he explains that he does not want to keep his $30 million inheritance, but instead give it to the family of wolves who raised him. The incredulous Reggie objects to this, but the judge reminds him that the purpose of this hearing is to determine whether Bobo is sane or not; what he chooses to do with his money is of no concern to the court. Reggie then tries to prove that Bobo thinks that he is a dog by attempting to have him play with a squeaky toy as well as growling and barking at him, but Bobo doesn’t give in, and Reggie comes across looking like the real nutcase in the room. The judge thus declares Bobo sane and dismisses the case.

Bobo stops Penny outside the courthouse and hugs and kisses her, but their romantic moment is abruptly cut short when he decides to chase after another fire truck that passes by them.