By Jason Haskins
This week's cult film is one of the lesser known John Hughes films and yet it’s possibly his best. His directorial follow-up to Plains, Trains, and Automobiles, She's Having a Baby stars Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern, and Alec Baldwin.
She's Having a Baby is much different from what you might expect from Hughes who, up to this point, was known tremendously for his work on quintessential teenage flicks like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club. This movie, which he later named as his most private and intimate film, explores the relationship between two people fraught with life but with so many aspirations.
Bacon plays Jefferson Briggs, who has some last minute doubts about his wedding at the very beginning of the film. He shares these with his best friend, played by a disgustingly handsome Alec Baldwin in the parking lot of the chapel. After leading such a crazy lifestyle, he's settling down and starting a new path for himself--and it scares him. However, he makes the choice despite it all and dives headfirst with his bride, Kristy (McGovern).
Her parents think he's a bum and won't make anything of himself, but he turns things around by finding them a nice house in the suburbs and an even nicer (albeit boring) job as a writer at an ad agency. Life has become boring and all he wants is to write a book. She's Having a Baby may be a title that leads you to think that the movie is all about child-bearing, but it's more about the binding factors between two individuals who have yet to commit to themselves. The theme is very powerful as the film goes on and is one reason why it sets itself apart from other romantic comedies of sorts that have been floating around the genre for so long.
The cast is incredible and while some people thought that the relationship aspect between the two leads wasn't fleshed out enough or that they didn't have enough chemistry...I thought they did a superb job in their performances. The way they look at each other is the way people in love look--and these little nuances help the credibility, as well as how cute they are together. This brings poignancy to the realistic fights and troubles they get into as the movie goes onward. Baldwin's in the movie for only a few scenes, but they stand out because he brings with him some heaviness that's funny, sad, or just plain unbearable.
John Hughes' direction is full of life. While he's more known around town as a gifted scriptwriter, I think his directing ability is one of his strongest points. The movie is about an hour and forty minutes almost and he keeps the viewer engaged the whole time while constantly toying with their emotions. There are many temptations that face Bacon's character and there's a lot of fantasies at work that keep the viewer on their toes--and it leads to one of my favorite parts of the film where Bacon is flirting with this attractive "fantasy" girl when she says, "If you love her so much, then why are you talking to me?". There are tons of sexy moments, but not reasons for nudity or anything like that--it all has to do with how the script takes certain cues from everyday in the mind of an attractive male dealing with it all. Call me crazy, but I related a lot of Bacon's character frequently.
The only thing that might cause you a setback on your viewing pleasure with this movie is if you can't take the cheesiness factor. This was made in the late eighties--that means you can expect the music, the vibe, the clothes, everything to have that late 80s cheeseball factor. This works wonders for me and I dig it--especially when it comes to the heart-wrenching climax when the whole "she's having a baby" thing occurs to the tune of Kate Bush's song, This Woman's Work. Oh, man it kills me just thinking about it.
She's Having a Baby is a terrifically moving movie and one that I can clearly tell meant a lot to John Hughes (and director Kevin Smith, who has stated this is his favorite of Hughes' work and clearly emulated it in Jersey Girl). Some people might not get it whether it is the sentimentality or the bizarre humor at times, but it's most realistic to me. It often gets the "rom/com" label to it, but it offers so much more as a glimpse into the relationship of these two married individuals trying to make it work. There are soul-mates out there and it makes you reflect on the wonderful experiences you've had with your loved one despite some of the heaviness. I think this is an important movie to watch in order to cherish what you care about--as well as grow as a person.
© Jason Haskins, 2011
5 out of 5 Stars
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