"Pregnant at 17" was written by Christine Conradt, which is usually a good sign. Though Conradt's scripts often descend into barely believable melodrama, at least she occasionally gives her characters some complexity and dimension, and her recent directorial debut with the Lifetime movie "The Bride He Met Online," despite its formulaic and stupid title, was quite engaging. It was directed by one of her frequent collaborators, Curtis James Crawford. 10-year married couple, Jeff (Roark Critchlow) and Sonia (Josie Bissett, top-billed) Clefton, who are veterinarians who co-run an animal clinic and are well off; and about the miscarriage Sonia had 10 years earlier, which has put a chill on the marriage and her demeanor generally. They're also right about Chelsea Sheridans (Zoé de Grand Maison — why is her last name "of the big house"?), the 17-year-old girl (though she's told Jeff she's 22 and he met her in a bar — we're told everyone thinks she's older than she is but even so no bartender who wanted to keep his job would serve her without carding her, so she must have faked an I.D.) who not only has an affair with Jeff but gets pregnant by him. For some reason the IMDb.com synopsis describes a quite different plot from the one we get, the synopsis uses the word "polyamory" and therefore suggests it will end in a three-way relationship between the principals. Jeff offers Sonia the usual lame excuses for his long nights away from home, until the night when Chelsea texts Jeff at home, Jeff calls her and they make a date for that night after Sonia has already gone to bed and overhears Jeff talking to her in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Chelsea, who works as a barista at a gelato place and is being raised by her dad Dom (Conrad Pla) — her mom's dead — is decorous and sexually reserved enough so that when she starts collapsing at work and puking a lot, that when she becomes pregnant there's no doubt that Jeff is the father because he's the only guy with whom she's been having sex. On their next date Chelsea breaks Jeff the double whammy: not only is she pregnant by him, she's only 17 and therefore he's guilty of statutory rape. Sonia decides to track down the woman her husband was cheating on her with — only when they meet, they decide they like each other and bond instantly. There's also a subplot that turns out to supply the film's climax: two years earlier, high-school student Chelsea witnessed her friend Mikey's (Shawn Lawrence) convenience store getting robbed, ID'd the robber as schoolmate Greg Foster (Rogan Christopher), talked to the police and ultimately testified against him at trial. She's remained in touch with Mikey and is also dating Adam Wilson (Jake Manley), Mikey's grandson and the requisite age-peer boyfriend for Chelsea to move on to after circumstances break up her and Jeff. But neither Greg nor his sister Laren (Corina Bizim) have forgiven Chelsea for sending him to prison, and when he's released on parole after serving just two years of a five-year sentence, Greg is out for revenge. Pregnant at 17 is well done overall but suffers from Conradt's addiction to creating "thrilling" scenes whether they either advance the plot or make sense, or not. Chelsea is a fascinating character, both she and Sonia are considerably more multi-dimensional than the Lifetime norm, and the actresses playing them rise to the challenge. But the film as a whole sinks into the picturesque unbelievability of many of Conradt's scripts even though the bond between Sonia and Chelsea is fascinating and deserved to be showcased in a better movie
6 Reviews
Chelsea's Motto
lavatch7 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Young Chelsea lost her mother at a young age. She has always dreamed of visiting her mother's birthplace in Dusseldorf. She also memorialized her mom's favorite saying in a tattoo on her leg: "Liebe Uberwindet Alles" (Love conquers all). Apparently, that is the theme of "Pregnant at 17." But the overarching love story is the bonding of Chelsea with the wife of the man who impregnated her.
Sonia Clefton had lost a child due to a miscarriage, and her relationship with her husband Jeff was never the same. After Jeff met Chelsea in a bar where she was working illegally as a minor, the couple had a brief affair. Chelsea forgot to take her birth control pills and became pregnant.
She also forgot to inform Jeff that she was only seventeen. Jeff went ballistic out of fear that he was going to prison. The last we see of Jeff in the film is in a hospital bed after he was hit by car during a jog. Getting clocked by the automobile was a convenient plot device to eliminate him from the story.
The balance of the film is given over to the burgeoning relationship of Chelsea and Sonia. The major conflict they encounter is the release of Greg Foster from prison, where he served three years for assault and armed robbery. It was Chelsea that put him away because she was an eyewitness to the crime at Mikey's convenience store. Now, Greg and his weird sister are planning revenge on Chelsea.
The melodramatic finale includes a mad dash through the forest where Greg and his sister are leading Chelsea and Sonia to their deaths. But the culprits make a big mistake by untying the hands of their victims and handing them shovels to dig their own graves. One senses immediately that the shovels will be used for other purposes.
The best scenes in the film were the sensitive interactions between Chelsea and Sonia. But, in an extremely flawed ending, the logic of the film is completely undercut. With the enormous build-up of Chelsea wanting to have the baby to make her life complete, we witness the mother handing the child off like a football to be raised by Sonia!
Even before getting up from her birthing bed, Chelsea has made the decision to start her life over with Adam, the grandson of Mikey. The baby now belongs to Sonia, as Chelsea and Adam depart for Dusseldorf. Love may indeed conquer all in this film, but it certainly works in mysterious ways in the vision of a Lifetime movie!
Sonia Clefton had lost a child due to a miscarriage, and her relationship with her husband Jeff was never the same. After Jeff met Chelsea in a bar where she was working illegally as a minor, the couple had a brief affair. Chelsea forgot to take her birth control pills and became pregnant.
She also forgot to inform Jeff that she was only seventeen. Jeff went ballistic out of fear that he was going to prison. The last we see of Jeff in the film is in a hospital bed after he was hit by car during a jog. Getting clocked by the automobile was a convenient plot device to eliminate him from the story.
The balance of the film is given over to the burgeoning relationship of Chelsea and Sonia. The major conflict they encounter is the release of Greg Foster from prison, where he served three years for assault and armed robbery. It was Chelsea that put him away because she was an eyewitness to the crime at Mikey's convenience store. Now, Greg and his weird sister are planning revenge on Chelsea.
The melodramatic finale includes a mad dash through the forest where Greg and his sister are leading Chelsea and Sonia to their deaths. But the culprits make a big mistake by untying the hands of their victims and handing them shovels to dig their own graves. One senses immediately that the shovels will be used for other purposes.
The best scenes in the film were the sensitive interactions between Chelsea and Sonia. But, in an extremely flawed ending, the logic of the film is completely undercut. With the enormous build-up of Chelsea wanting to have the baby to make her life complete, we witness the mother handing the child off like a football to be raised by Sonia!
Even before getting up from her birthing bed, Chelsea has made the decision to start her life over with Adam, the grandson of Mikey. The baby now belongs to Sonia, as Chelsea and Adam depart for Dusseldorf. Love may indeed conquer all in this film, but it certainly works in mysterious ways in the vision of a Lifetime movie!
What a fairy tale! Surprisingly watchable if unbelievable
phd_travel12 September 2016
The story is totally unbelievable. Yet it's told in a way that makes it watchable. Josie Bisset is beautiful as a wife who lost a baby. Her husband has been having an affair and impregnates a girl who is 17. He won't man up. It's all quite believable till then Josie befriends the girl and starts to look after her! At the same time the 17 year old has some wacko she identified at a crime come after her. things lead to an impossibly happy ending. So this is a bit of a combo movie mild thriller with lifetime adultery drama.
Are there women who forgive their husband's mistresses and befriend them? Anyway I though it was a pretty good watch considering the total fairy tale it was.
Are there women who forgive their husband's mistresses and befriend them? Anyway I though it was a pretty good watch considering the total fairy tale it was.
This movie makes me happy!
Carriexoc13 March 2019
Unfit parent/child predator movie
wvhpgfn10 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
So I haven't gotten in to this movie to far to realize it's about a young 17 year old teenage girl no one cares about because her dad is a loser that allows her in bars with him to drink and be around predators that he doesn't protect her from and a old married child predator gets to whe and she's pregnant Very gross who wrote this? A child predator but then we have another word element of a guy getting out of jail after a armed robbery she identified the dad is unfit and neglectful leaves her alone all the time and that's just in the first 15 min I will never understand why a woman will allow a man to cheat on them and stay that's why they keep doing what the do and if I saw my husband was preying in a child I would have called the police not felt sorry for myself and the old guys that okay these parts with these young girls look like they are creeps because they are way older kissing and touching them that's the worst part it just seems the writers for lifetime are creeps as well.
***
edwagreen2 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Certainly not a bad movie; nevertheless, it is done in somewhat by its ending. What happened to the husband? Has the baby been legally given up for adoption? A woman without a husband gets a baby to keep?
The relationship that develops between the pregnant girl and the guy's wife is interesting. It was also interesting how the guy she sent to prison with his testimony was able to get out after only 2 years and team up with his sister, the latter one of the ugliest faces I've seen on screen, to extract revenge.
There are a lot of complications going on here. To me, the ending really didn't tie all the pieces up.
The relationship that develops between the pregnant girl and the guy's wife is interesting. It was also interesting how the guy she sent to prison with his testimony was able to get out after only 2 years and team up with his sister, the latter one of the ugliest faces I've seen on screen, to extract revenge.
There are a lot of complications going on here. To me, the ending really didn't tie all the pieces up.
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