Daddy

I first saw this movie when I was a freshman in high school, and the film has stuck with me through the years. It's not about the soundtrack, or cinematography, or even the dialogue and somewhat bad acting, it's about the educational purpose, and the message behind that is the most important. It's not a sin to have a child when you're a teenager and still in high school, and it's not really a bad thing, either, but it is a problem. Tons of girls I knew are all having children now, and I guess they never watched this great movie, and if they did, they clearly didn't get the message behind it all. It's about not taking chances when you're in a sexual relationship. Any girl can get pregnant the first time. It's not a myth. You don't necessarily lose out on your dreams, but they do have to take a backseat in your future because you have a child to think about first.

This movie has a clear message behind it: JUST SAY NO!

I put this on to have in the background whilst doing a few chores as I love Patricia Arquette and, oddly, I thought it was very good all things considered.

I consider myself a bad movie connaisseur - this wasn't one of them.

This was a made for TV or education movie about sex, relationships & teenage pregnancy; you shouldn't go into it expectingng Oscar worthy writing. That said, it was surprisingly well acted, and aside from a few very on the nose comments about sexual health, the dialogue wasn't that corny (again, I've seen Neil Breen - you want a bad movie, I can give you a bad movie).

A lot of these reviews are complaining about one main character or the other, when really the whole point of this movie wasn't to have a likable character, it was to demonstrate the trials and woes that can afront young adults in the world of dating. Everyone during that movie was a little messed up and I felt uncomfortable by the actions of every single character at one point or another (with maybe the exception of the best friend, Dewy, who seemed dope).

I made the title of this review a quote from the movie because I thought the portrayal of Bobby's persistence in trying for sex was uncomfortably accurate and I think if more educational videos were made like this it would help quite a lot of young people. A lot of the time they portray the "no means no" message in media in a way that's one extreme or another but this movie showed that a lot of the time rejections are shades of grey and just because they rejection is soft, that doesn't mean it isn't any less valuable. Wish my younger self had seen this.

Anyways, I really liked this movie and if for whatever reason you find yourself nostalgic for the 80s and needing to educate a bunch of 14 year olds, I highly recommend this movie.

One qualm, I guess, is the information about IUDs is outdated but that's the only thing I noticed that was no longer accurate. For a movie that came out in 1987, that's pretty good.

I saw this movie in my Health class when we were learning about pregnancy. It was funny when the blonde one kept on whining "I want my chips!" I liked it when the dad said "it has fingers!" to the baby. This movie has some stupid characters that make you wanna laugh!

I saw this film on True Movies (which automatically made me sceptical) but actually - it was good. Why? Not because of the amazing plot twists or breathtaking dialogue (of which there is little) but because actually, despite what people say I thought the film was accurate in it's depiction of teenagers dealing with pregnancy.

It's NOT Dawson's Creek, they're not graceful, cool witty characters who breeze through sexuality with effortless knowledge. They're kids and they act like kids would.

They're blunt, awkward and annoyingly confused about everything. Yes, this could be by accident and they could just be bad actors but I don't think so. Dermot Mulroney gives (when not trying to be cool) a very believable performance and I loved him for it. Patricia Arquette IS whiny and annoying, but she was pregnant and a teenagers? The combination of the two isn't exactly lavender on your pillow. The plot was VERY predictable and but so what? I believed them, his stress and inability to cope - her brave, yet slightly misguided attempts to bring them closer together. I think the characters, acted by anyone else, WOULD indeed have been annoying and unbelievable but they weren't. It reflects the surreality of the situation they're in, that he's sitting in class and she walks on campus with the baby. I felt angry at her for that, I felt angry at him for being such a child and for blaming her. I felt it all.

In the end, I loved it and would recommend it.

Watch out for the scene where Dermot Mulroney runs from the disastrous counselling session - career performance.

Ok...we all remember after school specials. "Daddy" is so much better. We had to watch it in my high school health class, and let me tell you, it quickly became a favorite. All of the urban legends on how NOT to get pregnant come to life in this movie. Come on!!! To hear Dermot Mulroony say "but I pulled out, how can you be pregnant?" is so beautiful, because he really does look confused and you know that as stupid as it seems, some people actually learned a lesson from this movie. I just get entertainment every time I see it. Everyone who watches "Daddy" should end up happy. (and informed!) Oh, and if you like this movie, look for another made for tv movie starring Calista Flochart as an anorexic-bulimic. Shocking, I know.