Hard to believe, but true: For Keeps is not the only Tri-Star movie released in 1988 to begin with an animated conception sequence. Compared to the one in Look Who's Talking, the one in For Keeps is more realistic but nowhere near as entertaining. This movie seems like it wanted to be a hard-hitting look at teen pregnancy and then someone wanted to make sure it had a moral message by the end, and then someone else wanted to make sure it had an end that supported the nuclear family (this was released near the end of the Reagan Era when that was pushed into any entertainment aimed at a family audience). So you get this mishmash where two teens with big dreams and good prospects wind up pregnant, their families blow their gaskets, they decide to shack up, then they decide to get married, then they decide to break up, then they have a big Hollywood kiss in the rain at the end. This movie fluctuates between dewy romance scenes, angsty gritty scenes, slapstick comedy scenes, and some dumb girl who keeps showing up trying to make the audience believe that Stan is too good for Molly Ringwald (she fails). This movie never quite settles on a tone, and the result is a hot mess, but it's kind of a watchable hot mess. At least baby Theodosia is adorable?
Review of For Keeps?
For Keeps?
(1988)
1988: the year Tri-Star went all in on animated conception sequences
23 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers