Too Young to Be a Dad (2002)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Overall, "Too Young to be a Dad" is a solid movie. It gives the point of view of the father, Matt, which is different from most teenage pregnancy movies. When Matt gets his girlfriend, Francesca, pregnant Matts family gets torn apart. He went from Honor Roll to another kid who knocked up a girl. Matt being the responsible kid he is, does the right thing and gets a job to pay back Francesca's parents. The most important thing, is at the end Matt kept the child that he felt guilty because he gave her up for adoption.The only thing that was confusing about that movie was after the kids have sex, it seems like it didn't happen. It kind of throws you off there.A combination of good acting and a solid story made this movie. I would recommend this to all MATURE people (fourteen and older). It's a great coming of age story that doesn't focus on the mother. Whoever watches this movie should be able to picture this happening in real life. Also, this movie should be watched with children and parents, it will show the results of having sex at a young age.

I recently saw part of this on French TV under the title "Trop Jeune pour Etre Papa" and decided that I MUST have the whole film on DVD. Various checks on the internet led me to find out that worldwide it was only available in the USA on a double DVD with another Film called Mom ( presumably Mother !! ) at sixteen and under the title "Lifetime". I have no idea what "Lifetime" refers to, I presume its a new DVD Company ! My appreciation of the film is very positive indeed but I will start with the one negative point that bugged me and that was the attitude of Matt's mother towards her children and especially towards his sister. After all she was EIGHTEEN years old and this stupid woman was telling her that she couldn't smoke ( I mean if you can't smoke in your own bedroom where CAN you smoke ?? ) and also that she could not have her ears pierced. I cannot see the importance of these subjects in the film, both smoking and ear-piercing are pleasures that have been around for many years and have no impact on the subject matter of the film ! That out of the way, I thought the general acting throughout the film was EXCELLENT, especially the character of Matt who came over as very human and very realistic. Francesca's father came over as a generally unpleasant character, especially later on, though I admit that the actor in question has a face you just cannot forget and I have seen him in numerous other films. The young boy's attitude to the baby is so touching and I was his impressed by his going to work in the pizzeria to help contribute to the upkeep of the child. The whole story comes across as very human and generally the characters very true to life : there are some inconsistencies in the script ... when we see the baby at the end, she doesn't look new-born but appears like a child a few months old....when the two teens have had sex, they are sitting in bed looking at the sky as if the sex had not worked out correctly but events subsequently proved the sex had been efficacious !!! But these are minor blemishes on a film which will fill the hearts of those, who like myself, are attracted to modern-day family dramas, and which the Americans, without any doubt, are the best in the world at producing.

SPOILER WARNINGThis movie is definitely in my list of good made-for-tv movies. It takes you into the world of Matt Freeman. He's fifteen, on the honor roll, and has two wonderful girls for friends. Then he makes his mistake. He sleeps with one of them (Francesca) only once, and gets her pregnant. From there the movie shows all the difficult choices he has to make, like sacrificing his good grades for a teen-parent program at school, getting a full-time job at a pizza place to pay Francesca's medical bills, and signing the baby away for adoption. His family is nearly torn apart by this, but they manage to stay together, and grow even stronger when Matt, after meeting his daughter for the first time, decides to keep her. This ends up becoming the family's decision, and we are left with the feeling that this is really what goes on with a young man when this happens to him.

Finally, a movie that showcases a male in a stereotypically "female" light. This movie follows a harrowing 9 months of a young boy's life as he struggles with a choice he feels he was forced to make, giving up parental rights to his unborn child.This movie shows something very important: It only takes one time to get pregnant. After the first time, the boy decided he wasn't ready for sex, but the damage was already done. Also, the important thing shown here is that just because a person is male doesn't mean they are a sex-crazed lunatic.We follow the life of this boy as he struggles at his age to work full-time at a pizza shop to pay his pregnant girlfriend's medical bills and the anguish he experiences when hearing the baby referred to as simply an "adoptee", as he walks around a baby product store and as he takes classes to learn how to take care of a baby he'll never have.And in the light of this life-altering event happening, his family is proud of him for doing his duty and taking responsibility for his actions. They have chosen to see the best of a not-so-wonderful situation, which we could hope any parent would do for their child.As the movie ends with the boy deciding to raise his child, you can only be proud of a movie that finally showcases a man taking responsibility for his sexual actions and not taking the easy way out