She's Having a Baby (1988)

Young newlyweds find out just how unprepared they are for their future together.

Director:

John Hughes

Writer:

John Hughes

Stars:

Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern, Alec Baldwin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Bacon	...	Jake Briggs
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Kristy Briggs
Alec Baldwin	...	Davis McDonald
James Ray	...	Jim Briggs
Holland Taylor	...	Sarah Briggs
William Windom	...	Russ Bainbridge
Cathryn Damon	...	Gayle Bainbridge
Reba McKinney	...	Grandmother
Bill Erwin	...	Grandfather
Paul Gleason	...	Howard
Dennis Dugan	...	Bill
Anthony Mockus Sr.	...	Minister
John Ashton	...	Ken
Larry Hankin	...	Hank
Edie McClurg	...	Lynn

Storyline

Jake and Kristy Briggs are newlyweds. Being young, they are perhaps a bit unprepared for the full reality of marriage and all that it (and their parents) expect from them. Do they want babies? Their parents certainly want them to. Is married life all that there is? Things certainly aren't helped by Jake's friend Davis, who always seems to turn up just in time to put a spanner in the works.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | advertising | baby | midlife crisis | birth control pill | 

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Taglines:

Man. Woman. Life. Death. Infinity. Tuna casserole. One movie dares to tell it all.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Papá a la fuerza

Filming Locations:

Glencoe, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,827,520, 7 February 1988, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,031,707

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Hughes Entertainment, Seven Stars Film Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mike Krumlauf, a big fan of John Hughes, lists this as his favorite of Hughes' films.

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Goofs

When Jake meets the mysterious girl in the museum, he is wearing a gray suit with a dark pink tie. He's still wearing that suit on the train, but when he arrives home, he is wearing a dark suit with a red tie.

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Quotes

Jefferson "Jake" Edward Briggs: College is like high school with ashtrays.

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Crazy Credits

The film's title is followed by the same 5 symbols that appeared at the start of each episode of Ben Casey (1961): "man, woman, birth, death, infinity" as the narrator of that series used to say.

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Connections

Referenced in Married... with Children: She's Having a Baby: Part 1 (1991)

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Soundtracks

This Woman's Work
Written, Performed and Produced by Kate Bush
Kate Bush performs courtesy of Novercia, Ltd./EMI Records, Ltd.

User Reviews

An absolute gem of a film.

I would go on record to say that John Hughes' "She's Having A Baby" is by far the best film he's ever done -- and this from the man responsible for those giddy teen comedies from the '80's (i.e. BREAKFAST CLUB, SIXTEEN CANDLES, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF).

It's ironic that his best work would be about grownups, or in this case, growing up. Jake and Kristi (played superbly by Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern), are indeed, your average married couple going through the same problems most married people do, and most kids their age would be sidestepping. But Hughes adds more dimension and more insight, and in spite of the laughs (which there are, by the way) and even some silly sequences,he still wrings out an air of truth.

Sadly, this film flopped at the B.O. in it's initial release back in 1988, but then why carp about performance. "SHAB" is a quiet gem of a film to be appreciated by the few that appreciate good filmmaking.

Grade: A-