Review of For Keeps (1988) by Pamela K — 30 Jul 2011

After the relatively demanding "Cracks", I felt like a nice movie, something comforting from the past... and this one fit the mood well. It's surprising that I would like a "baby" movie, I guess, but this one got me quite young. I still say it has the worst beginning to a movie ever, though, I was eating while I was watching this one tonight, and it nearly made me sick!

Another thing I like about this, is even though it has the required happy ending, it's not sugar coated or overly sentimental. This young couple hit every obstacle going - teen pregnancy. poverty, no support from family, post natal depression and the overall strain of being a young married couple with a baby. Though it is romantic in a way, the situation sure isn't.

Molly Ringwald is wonderful here. I always think she is wonderful, I have loved her since Pretty in Pink, but she really is outstanding here as Darcy. Beautiful, smart, if it wasn't for the whole pregnancy bit, what young girl would't want to be her?! Randall Batinkoff is also nice as Stan. I am surprised this movie was not more popular at the time. I guess now it is a little dated, if you did not grow up with it as I did, but for anyone who likes a good 80's teen movie, can't really go past this.

I guess it's a sign of my age that finally I can really relate to Mrs Elliot in this too. I never really thought about her, past being Darcy's mum, but on rewatch, I actually found her quite moving, as I realised her fear was coming from things that happened to her. Scary.