Fact1: successful science fiction writer is finalizing second divorce, Fact2: Henderson has with women issues, Fact3: John had as child same bedroom, Fact4: Jeff needs to evaluate relationship with mother, Fact5: mother box of novel and short story manuscripts that wrote in youth
Output: John Henderson Albert Brooks is a successful science fiction writer who is finalizing his second divorce. He is perplexed by the issues he has with women, realizing that his wives and girlfriends all didnt support or encourage him. John decides to initiate an experiment that will help him understand what went wrong in his relationships: he moves back in with his widowed mother Beatrice Debbie Reynolds, occupying the same bedroom he had as a child. His sports agent brother Jeff thinks John is oversensitive to their mothers criticism, while John believes that their mother favors Jeff. Their relationship is characterized by constant bickering and power struggles; both are perfectionists strongly committed to their respective points of view. John believes shes overly critical of him, while Beatrice contends that he blames her unfairly for his personal failings. A rare bright spot in their relationship appears when she takes an interest in his word processor and impresses John with her fast, flawless typing. Beatrice seems surprised by Johns interest in her life and is reluctant to go into all that. When Beatrice cancels her plans to travel to visit her son Jeff, Jeff has a meltdown and an argument with his wife over his need to keep in constant contact with his mother. She tells him that he may needs to evaluate his relationship with his mother just as much as John. John and Beatrice go to the zoo, where they finally reach some common ground. When they return home Jeff is waiting; so upset by the aborted visit, he came all the way up to try to talk Beatrice into visiting for the weekend. All three argue and Jeff leaves alone, John satisfied that Jeffs the sickie and that hes pretty darn healthy to begin with. Beatrice tells John that she has a friend who comes through San Francisco every few weeks and stays over a few days, but while John is there this visit will be just for one day but that she needs to see him. John is surprised that she would call someone she is intimate with not important, but she dismisses it, saying they just have sex occasionally. John meets Charles, who knows a lot about John because, as he tells John, Beatrice brags about him when hes not around. They head off to have dinner; in the car they discuss the evening, with Beatrice refusing to have anything more than dinner because of her sons visit, even though the idea of more seems to excite Charles. While alone at the house, John discovers a box of novel and short story manuscripts that his mother wrote in her youth. He learns she was a skilled writer who went to college on a scholarship, only to have her talent discouraged by her husband and the prevailing social expectations that mothers should not have careers outside the home. John realizes now that his mothers passive aggression towards him and not Jeff stems from the fact that Jeffs business career was never a reminder of her unfulfilled ambitions. Beatrice admits that Johns observations are correct, leading to a warm reconciliation. The film ends with John meeting a single female fan of his novels, and Beatrice beginning to write a story based on Johns moving in with her. John meets a woman and a relationship begins to spark.