That's My Boy, an early Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis picture, is a little different -- both for better and for worse -- than their usual work. On the plus side, both, particularly Lewis, get to play characters a little more defined their usual screen personas, although the characters certainly fit into their usual screen personas. The story is a little less frivolous, which was an interesting experiment, but it doesn't quite work. Without the belly laughs that usually accompany Martin and Lewis films, the plot isn't quite enough to sustain it. There's also the occasional lapse in pacing: the field goal at the end is filmed so abruptly and without punctuation that the climactic moment is gone before one quite realizes it was imminent.

That's My Boy is certainly cheery and charismatic, and that makes it difficult to criticize too harshly. But unfortunately good cheer and charisma don't redeem it enough.