For Keeps

This 1988 Molly Ringwald vehicle is one of the '80s superstar's more lackluster projects. When Ringwald's dour, unappealing honor student gets knocked up by her sweet boyfriend (Randall Batinkoff), the film launches into a trite tale of what happens when a white, upwardly mobile teen finds herself in that taboo adolescent situation: expectant motherhood. With their disapproving parents to deal with and the harsh realities of being a teenage parent to confront, the adolescent couple gets a bitter taste of "the real world" as they try to become responsible young parents. Director John G. Avildsen never manages to make either the comedic or dramatic aspects of his simple morality tale work. Left in the hands of the disappointingly uncharismatic leads, For Keeps falters until it finally peters out. ~ Rachel Deahl, All Movie Guide