If 'Sixteen Candles' was John Hughes on the way up to his classic films like 'Pretty in Pink' and 'The Breakfast Club' then this film unfortunately is him on the way down.There's lots of the things we've come to expect from his films, but the move into more serious issues, and a less witty script means that this one isn't as fondly remembered as Hughes's previous outings.Bacon and McGovern do their best, as does Alec Baldwin, but it just feels like there's a big song missing from the soundtrack, or an iconic moment missing that would have elevated this film from being average to something great.

John Hughes films had some of the best soundtracks ever, or more correctly gave rise to the best albums based on soundtracks. The Pretty in Pink album is one of the greatest compilations of 80's music made in the 80's. It was edgy stuff back then and still sounds remarkably current today.The music in "She's having a baby" is almost as good. Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" is one of those rare songs that was so beautiful and haunting that I can flash back to exactly where I heard it first. It is so universal and timeless that a muscular 6 foot 5, 250 pound Afro-American man could sing it on American Idol 23 years later and bring tears to the judges eyes. The movie is worth seeing just for the final scene, where this song plays while Kevin Bacon is anxiously waiting for word about his wife and baby.The rest of it is very playful and fluffy and especially for those of us that lived through those times, quite enjoyable. Younger viewers might get an appreciation for how innocent and naive people were back then. Especially fun was seeing Alec Baldwin in his pretty boy grease-ball stage. And unlike Pretty in Pink, the music in the soundtrack actually forms a large part of the story - and did I tell you how good that soundtrack is?

Let's face it. it's not the most original premise of a young guy marrying young who goes through an early life crises. Yet the film reaches a sweetness that never turns into sickly. Whilst I think the screenplay could've been tighter and the script is not nearly up to the usual John Hughes banter; the picture is adequate due to the oh so natural performances of Kevin Bacon and the neglected Alec Baldwin. But it is not these two that saves this picture. What saves this picture is the final montage to the backing of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" which intertwined with Bacon's brilliant expression of emotion makes your heart skip a beat. I have never been in love nor had a baby but that scene hit me like a tonne of bricks and the film becomes watchable if only for that.

Am I the only person that thinks that the wife in this movie is a complete control freak. She decides to go off the pill (without telling her husband); talks about their infertility to her mother (without telling him); and doesn't like his friends (what wife does).On second thought, anyone watching this movie should be told the following disclaimer - "If this is your wife, get a good lawyer and get the heck out of your marriage."Now I feel better.