For Keeps

For Keeps centres on Darcy Elliot and Stan Bobrucz, a high school couple with college plans and strong grades. Their future changes when Darcy becomes pregnant, and although their parents urge them to consider abortion or adoption, the two decide to keep the baby. They marry quickly and try to raise the child while finishing school, but the pressures of work, study and mounting money problems soon test them, and they are forced to rethink how they will manage on their own.

The film was directed by John G. Avildsen, released in 1988 between The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III among his credited features. Denise DeClue and Tim Kazurinsky wrote the screenplay, and Jerry Belson and Walter Coblenz produced it for TriStar Pictures. Molly Ringwald plays Darcy, with Randall Batinkoff as Stan, and Kenneth Mars, Miriam Flynn, Conchata Ferrell and Sharon Brown in supporting roles. It runs 98 minutes and took about 18 million dollars worldwide, a modest return for a wide studio release.

Audience response has been mild: on IMDb the film holds 6 out of 10 from roughly 5,500 votes, and on TMDB 6.5 out of 10 from about 152 votes. A small critics' sample, 12 reviews, averages 4.8 out of 10, below the audience scores.