Going Steady

"Going Steady" is a film that made the daddy in me annoyed and even a bit concerned. This is because the message of the film seems to be that marrying while in high school is pretty romantic and will work out in the end...something that clearly is NOT a good idea at all!

Calvin and Julie are high school sweethearts. One weekend, their school team is playing an away game and the pair go with a couple friends. They are expected to spend the night away from home and they decide to get married and spend this night together...very spur of the moment. Oddly, their ages are never mentioned though it seems like based on the dialog they were underage and the wedding actually not legal. Also odd is that Julie insists that they tell no one about the wedding and her plan is that they live separately and announce their wedding after they graduate in a few months. This is complicated when Julie turns out to be pregnant...and keeping everything a secret isn't possible.

The film heavily romanticizes the relationship between Julie and Calvin. The only one who doesn't just accept it is Julie's father...the only seemingly normal person in the film! Yet, in the end, he ends up admitting he was wrong and the couple was right in marrying in haste. A strange message, that's for sure!

Despite the unusual message which I didn't love, the film was enjoyable and is worth seeing. Just don't expect a deep or substantive story. It's more like an episode of a sitcom than a story about two hasty young lovers.