For Keeps, starring Molly Ringwald. I can barely bring myself to watch it in its entirety, and I'm a die-hard Ringwald fanboy. It's the film that terminated any chances of her becoming a respectable actress; essentially the Heaven's Gate to her Michael Cimino. The film touched upon the issue of teen pregnancy, which was relevant at the time, and still is. You had Ringwald as the lead, who was highly sought after. You had John G. Avildsen of Rocky and Karate Kid fame behind the helm. How could it fail?
Well, it failed, and it failed HARD.
* For starters, Ringwald and Avildsen fought constantly during production over the direction the film was taking; Ringwald wanted to stick to the original, more true-to-life script, whereas Avildsen wanted it to be a saccharine, inspiring love story.
* Ringwald saw the film as an opportunity to basically win an Oscar, and as a result, she turns in one of the most cloying and over-the-top performances in her filmography.
* For the scenes with the baby, several infants were used, much to the chagrin of Avildsen, and quite possibly Ringwald, who may have been literally peed and pooped on.
* The actor who played the love interest's best friend was injured in a drunk driving accident, and rendered comatose. Though he returned to the set later, Avildsen greatly reduced his role, partially due to the actor's absence and partly due to his rude behavior on set.
* According to an interview with Ringwald, much of the film was recut or reshot. A simple Google image search and even the back of the VHS box shows stills of scenes that didn't make the final cut.
* Though the film was a successful at the box office, given its low budget of a million dollars, the film was utterly crucified by critics, and currently holds a 5.8 on IMDB and a mere 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was responsible for killing a handful of careers:
* Ringwald was perhaps the biggest victim of fiasco. By the time the film was released, her status as a potential leading lady was over, and since the early 90s, she's appeared in numerous failed sitcoms, television movies, and direct-to-video B-flicks. Though she may be gaining a bit more attention with her role in the failed Jem and the Holograms movie and her jazz act, she's got a long, long way to go to regain her former glory.
* Randall Batinkoff, her male co-star, hasn't really appeared in anything since.
* Avildsen's career as a director began to slow down, and his last film, the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Desert Heat, was released directly to video in 1999.