Leave It to Beaver
Seen it?1997 | 84 min | Comedy, Family
Monday Morning Maybeearly ratingWhy it’s a Monday Morning Maybe
With just 21% on Rotten Tomatoes and soft box office, this one could be a tough watch. Keep your phone handy.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- Right up the alley of sports fans (and people who swear they aren't) and anyone with a complicated family (so, everyone). You don't need to know the game to feel the big moments. Liked Major League? This is a good next one. Family ties get tested in ways that ring true.
- The mood
- Light and funny, feel-good.
- The pace
- Lively and easy to follow, at 1 hr 24 min. Short enough for a weeknight.
- What might put you off
- Rated PG. Worth a look first if you have very young kids.
- Skip it if you're after something serious tonight.
The Cleavers are an all-American family living in Ohio – wise father Ward, loving mother June, teenage son Wally, and 8-year-old Theodore, better known as 'Beaver'. Beaver hopes to get a bike as a gift from his father and to please him tries out for his school football team and he makes it, only to be embarrassed. The bike he gets is quickly stolen. Meanwhile, Wally is trying to help his friend Eddie Haskell to get the heart of pretty classmate Karen, but Karen seems to like Wally more, and that leads to tensions between the friends.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsWeak
21% on Rotten Tomatoes, 42 on Metacritic
- AudiencesNot counted
Not measured yet: not enough ratings
- AwardsNot counted
No major awards or nominations
- Box office & staying powerBelow par
$15 million worldwide on a $15 million budget; still draws a steady audience long after release
- Buzz & cultural impactSolid
About 63K people sought it out in the past year
Trailer
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Cast & crew
Directed by Andy Cadiff
- Christopher McDonaldWard Cleaver
- Janine TurnerJune Cleaver
- Cameron FinleyBeaver Cleaver
- Erik von DettenWally Cleaver
- Adam ZolotinEddie Haskell Jr.
- Alan RachinsFred Rutherford
- Grace PhillipsMiss Landers
- Geoff PiersonCoach Gordon
- Erika ChristensenKaren
- Ken OsmondEddie Haskell Sr.