Fifteen and Pregnant

Fifteen and Pregnant

Cover of the 2005 DVD release
Directed by Sam Pillsbury
Produced by Diane Kerew
Written by Susan Cuscuna
Starring Kirsten Dunst
Park Overall
David Andrews
Music by Stephen Edwardsies
Cinematography James Bartle
Edited by Michael S. Murphy
Distributed by Lifetime Television
Release dates
  • January 19, 1998 (1998-01-19)
Running time
96 min.
Country United States
Language English

Fifteen and Pregnant is a 1998 American made-for-television drama starring Kirsten Dunst, Park Overall and David Andrews. Based on a true story, Dunst portrays a 15-year-old pregnant girl.

Plot

The film commences with 14-year-old Tina having sex with her boyfriend, Ray. Ray later ends his relationship with Tina, telling her that he must focus upon his athletic goals. When Tina discovers that she has started her period, she is extremely relieved. On Tina's birthday, she is despondent because another birthday has passed and she does not have a boyfriend.

Tensions arise between Tina and her mother when they are in the car together and listen to a radio programme whereby the commentator makes remarks about the high number of teenagers getting pregnant. Tina's mother asks her daughter if she knows anyone who is sexually active, or if she has ever been sexually active. Tina is evasive and gives a non-committal response. She and her friend Laurie, a young mother who became pregnant at seventeen, attend a sexual health clinic where it is confirmed that Tina is carrying a child.

It all comes to a head when Laurie tells Tina to tell her mother about the pregnancy. Her mother, a conservative Christian, is shocked but due to her beliefs, decides to help her daughter. Her dad is less upset and comforts his daughter. When Tina tells Ray, he feigns happiness. Tina begins pregnancy classes with her mother. After hearing a story from a girl about how hard teenage motherhood is and how her boyfriend cheated on her, Tina calls Ray and yells at him because she thinks he won't be a good father like he promised he would be. For a while she tries to make him stay with her, but when Ray isn't as present as she would like him to be, Tina goes investigating and while at the mall she finds Ray kissing another girl, cheating on her. She is upset and tells him she is over him and ends their relationship.

Throughout the stressful pregnancy, Tina's younger sister Rachel reacts with both disgust and jealousy by the attention Tina receives from her concerned parents. Even when she breaks her ankle Tina receives more attention, for example Rachel is made to get off a couch because Tina was lying there, and is made to go upstairs on her crutches to be able to lie down. Eventually Rachel calls their grandmother to ask permission to live with her. As the pregnancy becomes more and more overwhelming, Tina is rushed to the hospital and is about to give birth when her mother has a panic attack on how her daughter is going to have a baby. When Tina is in labor, Ray shows up at the hospital with his new girlfriend only to be turned away by Tina's father, telling him "sperm doesn't entitle you to much" and tells him to wait in the waiting room. After a grueling labor, Tina gives birth to a baby boy whom she names Caleb, and meets her younger sister and grandmother outside the hospital where they all have a small family reunion.

Cast

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.