studioAT
If 'Sixteen Candles' was John Hughes on the way up to his classic films like 'Pretty in Pink' and 'The Breakfast Club' then this film unfortunately is him on the way down.There's lots of the things we've come to expect from his films, but the move into more serious issues, and a less witty script means that this one isn't as fondly remembered as Hughes's previous outings.Bacon and McGovern do their best, as does Alec Baldwin, but it just feels like there's a big song missing from the soundtrack, or an iconic moment missing that would have elevated this film from being average to something great.
Electrified_Voltage
After watching "Curly Sue" just a few days ago, "She's Having a Baby" was the only film directed by the late John Hughes which I had not yet seen. This is another one written, directed, and produced by Hughes. I still haven't seen every film he ever wrote/produced, but have now seen all eight of the ones a directed in his career. Most of them I've found to be at least pretty good, some of them more than that, and when I finally watched "Curly Sue", I found that it usually fails in its attempts to be funny, but does have some fairly gripping drama. Like that film, I wasn't expecting this one to be that great, since it's another one of Hughes' less popular efforts. However, I certainly was expecting it to be better than it turned out to be! Jake and Kristy Briggs are two young newlyweds, and after they get married, they move to New Mexico, where Jake studies to get a Masters Degree at graduate school, but he really doesn't like this, so he gives up before he reaches his goal. After this, the two of them move back to Chicago, where Jake manages to get a job as an advertising copywriter, after failing to fool his employers with his thoroughly dishonest resume, but still impressing them with it. While working at this job, he also aspires to become a writer. Kristy finds employment as a research analyst. With their combined income, Jake and Kristy are able to afford a sizeable house in the suburbs of Chicago. Unfortunately, their marriage is turning out to be a dysfunctional one. A lot gets in their way, including trouble with Jake and his father-in-law, Russ Bainbridge, and also a visit from Jake's old friend, Davis McDonald, who comes with an unloving sexual partner! As time goes by, Jake and Kristy eventually face problems of a different sort.Pretty much all aspects of this movie I didn't care for, including the bland characters and the performances from the cast members who play them. Alec Baldwin as Davis McDonald might be the worst, but nobody really stands out. Kevin Bacon is no exception as Jake Briggs, and this character's narration isn't very impressive. Since this is supposed to be a comedy, I guess the main problem is the lack of laughs. I did laugh a little at times, the job interview for instance, but the humour definitely more often fails than succeeds, and nothing is hilarious here. I especially didn't care for the part where Jake is laughed at by everyone in the waiting room. As well as laughs, John Hughes was known to have poignancy in his films, and there definitely are moments in this one that are supposed by be poignant, but they failed to grab me. It's not a very well written story, and watching this miserable marriage at different points through the years did not show me any reason why it should keep going. Eventually, I found that the film was getting a little frustrating to sit through, as it was pretty tedious.John Hughes wrote and produced more than he directed in his film career, but of the eight movies he wrote AND directed (most of which he produced as well), many viewers might say that "Curly Sue" is the weakest. However, after watching "She's Having a Baby", I disagree. His 1991 film may be inferior to most of the other films in his directing credits, but I would say it is at least superior to this 1988 effort, even if that's not the most popular opinion. Also, of all the films Hughes directed, this was the second one in which the protagonists were not high school students, the first of those being "Planes, Trains & Automobiles", starring John Candy and Steve Martin. That film is both hilarious and heartwarming, with outstanding characters and cast performances, but this one doesn't have any of those qualities. It basically seemed like the opposite of its predecessor to me in more than one way, as it is overall bland, bleak, unfunny, and listless, without any very notable characters/performances. With the way it made me feel, I cannot question why this movie doesn't get as much recognition as a number of other pictures which Hughes made in the same decade as this one.
juiceman10712
I feel like the point of the film, the morals learned and the entire narrative structure is lost on most.The film is the REtelling of a man (Kevin Bacon) and his immaturity to his marriage and refusal to grow up. The weird dream sequences show this visually and since it's being told to us, these represent exactly what he felt at the time. We never see his happy moments that are only revealed in the finale because at the time, he didn't notice them so we are denied them to be put in his shoes. It can be confusing the first time you watch it may feel kind of disjointed but it makes sense in the end.Because the film was created this way, the montage in the final moments is heart wrenching as we see Bacon go trough his transformation and realization.This was Hughes' attempt to break out of his brat pack films into serious drama and while I wouldn't say it's award worthy, it's easily one of his best films and most certainly his most underrated.
