WiseRatFlames
An unexpected masterpiece
SpunkySelfTwitter
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
The_Film_Cricket
'She's Having a Baby' is an interesting exercise in the oldest most simple kind of story hendered by stupid gimmicky side-plots that pull it down like dead weight.At the center is a pure, honest, likable couple played by Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. There aren't two more winning personalities in the movies. Bacon has a strong presence and a good personality. The Invaluable Elizabeth McGovern has one of the most honest faces that I have seen in a movie. When she says she loves him, she has a certain way of holding herself that leaves absolutely no doubts in my mind.The movie tracks the progression of their first years of marriage from the wedding to their first child. We meet them on their wedding day where Bacon (like the groom in almost every movie) is a sweating, nervous wreck fearful that he is giving up his freedom.They move into a condo that is more mortgage then home. Bacon gets a low-level job with an ad agency and after a few years the rest of the family hints that it might be time to have a baby. So, the rest of the movie shows their efforts at conception.This is all well and good and if the movie had stayed with the simple plot detail that I just described, this would have been a better movie. The problem is that it keeps throwing in a lot of distracting, unnecessary plot baggage. For example, after the two move to the suburbs, they are surrounded by the usual gallery of suburbanites including the men who are more interested in their lawn mowers then their wives and wives discuss their husband as if they were children. This all culminates in a stupid Busby Berkly-type dance sequence involving lawnmowers.Clichéd characters abound in this film including McGovern's parents who absolutely hate their daughter's new husband and bad mouth him at every turn. Another cliché: Bacon's best friend played by Alec Baldwin keeps hitting on McGovern while Bacon keeps having fantasies about the same beautiful woman and begins to have longings for his bachelor freedom.On top of all of that, there are silly fantasy moments as when Bacon finds out that McGovern is pregnant and envisions himself being hurled screaming toward a brick wall. Or the moment when they get married and the minister reads off a laundry list of duties that Bacon is to perform in order to make her happy. Or the typical panic-stricken tailspin that Bacon goes into when McGovern goes into labor.This is a case of less is more. I liked the quiet moments in this movie which are wedged in between the gimmicks. The small romantic moment between the couple are very sweet and touching. Because these two actors are masters of emotional depth I had no trouble believing that their were honestly and passionately in love.The movie ends with one of the most emotional scenes I can remember. A complication arises when McGovern goes into labor and Bacon sits in the waiting room. The scene is done so beautifully that I longed for what the rest of the film could have been if it weren't trying so hard to be cute. 'She's Having a Baby' could have been an effective movie had the director had the nerve to trim the fat.
A M
On the upside, I love this movie (enough that I just watched it for about the 7th time), firstly and mostly, because of Elizabeth McGovern's very charming portrayal of very charming Kristy Briggs. Secondly, because of the cute and sweet relationship between Kristy and Jake. Thirdly because of the chuckles I get from watching the credits at the end of the movie -- which I believe is the first and only time I've actually chuckled from watching movie credits! On the downside, there are some really odd elements to the direction that I really don't enjoy at all, but rather suffer through and barely tolerate. I just think Jake's fantasies and/or hallucinations could've been directed better. And I cannot stand Alec Baldwin's character (Jake's best friend), or his girlfriend's either. UGH! But all in all, this movie entertains me, brings crocodile tears to my eyes in several places, makes me smile in many others, and makes me root like crazy for Kristy's & Jake's relationship to make it!
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.
thenatureboy
Am I the only person that thinks that the wife in this movie is a complete control freak. She decides to go off the pill (without telling her husband); talks about their infertility to her mother (without telling him); and doesn't like his friends (what wife does).On second thought, anyone watching this movie should be told the following disclaimer - "If this is your wife, get a good lawyer and get the heck out of your marriage."Now I feel better.
