She's Having a Baby, written and directed by the late John Hughes, comes after his
Pretty in Pink, teen-angst era and before his lucrative
Home Alone period, an interval during which he made films about adults, such as the comedic
Planes, Trains and Automobiles and
Uncle Buck. This is a tighter, more personal film, often overlooked amid noisier Hughes backdrops
Ferris Bueller's Day Off and
The Breakfast Club. Starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern, it looks not just at the biological adventure of conception and birth but also at the grown-up compromises of marriage. Flashes of Hughes' signature humor appear, as Bacon's pensive father-to-be experiences exaggerated childhood flashbacks and momentary fantasies. As a bonus,
She's Having a Baby features a scene-stealing Alec Baldwin as Bacon's dissolute and haunted best friend. It screens at 1:30 p.m. as part of the John Hughes film series, "Inventing the American Teenager," at the Kansas City, Missouri, Central Library (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3400). Admission is free. See
kclibrary.org.
— Chris Packham
816-701-3400
