She's Having A Baby

A year after Some Kind Of Wonderful, John Hughes decided to abandon the teen genre and jump into adulthood with 1988's She's Having A Baby.

Jake and Kristy Briggs have just entered into marriage, and the film follows the young couple through the early years of marriage. It is mostly told through Jake's eyes as he faces with the highs and lows of being a kept man. He deals with everything from in laws, home ownership, headaches with the job, temptations from another woman, envy of his playboy best friend, Alec Baldwin, and becoming a parent. Jake struggles with his journey to adulthood and husbandry, always knowing that he has a good woman by his side.

Don't let the title fool you, She's Having A Baby is more about marriage and becoming an adult than parenthood. Released around the same time as Baby Boom, Three Men And A Baby, Immediate Family, Look Who's Talking, and For Keeps, it kind of got lumped in with those more baby themed movies and kind of got lost in the shuffle. Which is a shame because it is a far superior film. I will say that I think this is more of a guy movie since it is told from Jake's perspective. Unfortuantely I think most guys will stay away thinking it's a chick flick.

Bacon turns in one of his best performances as Jake. It's a very comical performance and Bacon is perfect at looking foolish and befuddled. McGovern is good as well, but this is really Bacon's show.

Hughes once said that he has only made three great films, and She's Having A Baby was one of those. I think he's made more than that, but I will also say that She's Having A Baby is one of his best. It's probably the greatest film ever made about marriage.

It's available on dvd.