With: Sidney Bloom - Thora Birch Sara Dougan - Madisen Beaty Brady Leary - David Rogers Jesse Moretti - Max Ehrich Michael Dougan - James McCaffrey School Nurse - Camryn Manheim Lorraine Dougan - Nancy Travis Imbued with a strong message but weaselly in its relationship with real-life events, “” is Lifetime’s latest bit of advocacy filmmaking, using as its backdrop a much-publicized but murky outbreak of pregnancies in Gloucester, Mass. Oddly structured, the movie’s opening disclaimer simultaneously states that it is both “inspired by” a true story and that any resemblance to actual persons is “purely coincidental” (um, huh?). Setting aside those fact-based underpinnings, the story is familiar and somewhat heavy-handed but finally registers its main point with conviction — serving as a clear indictment of abstinence-only sex education.The movie centers on a group of teenage girls who have ostensibly agreed to get pregnant and raise their babies together, living in some kind of Barbie dream-house fantasy about the magic of pregnancy and joys of motherhood. The principal focus here is Sara (an excellent Madisen Beaty), whose mother heads the local family-values group and strongly resists the argument to teach sex-ed advanced by a concerned school nurse (Camryn Manheim).
More Reviews What motivated the girls — and specifically, the disputed question of whether their apparent eagerness to become pregnant stemmed from an orchestrated “pact” — never quite coalesces. Writers Pamela Davis and Teena Booth try illuminating the premise through the device of a “video blogger” (an odd heroine, that), thanklessly played by Thora Birch, who investigates what really transpired. Her back story proves the least interesting part of the film, and at times feels painfully obvious in seeking to fill the underlying issues with resonance. About halfway through the movie, moreover, the “pregnancy pact” story breaks in Time magazine (as it did in 2008), bringing a media frenzy upon the small town.
The scandal erupted after a school official told Time magazine in June 2008 that the students had made 'a pregnancy pact.” From there, heaps of unwanted attention piled on the small fishing town. Mar 22, 2012 - A French movie romanticizes an American high school scandal. Time magazine claimed the spike was due to a “pregnancy pact” among the.
![Pregnancy Pregnancy](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125445138/344603889.jpg)
This is illustrated through clips drawn from real-life newscasts, making the initial disclaimer seem even more mealy-mouthed and lawyerly. For all that, the movie delivers several emotional moments — from the denial exhibited by Travis’ mother, who insists her daughter is “;” to the painfully naive teens, who harbor a view of pregnancy derived from “a Huggies commercial,” as Birch’s character states, leaving them desperately in need of a “reality check.” Ultimately, “” would have possessed more power had the producers gotten off the fence — either developing an original story or more closely adhering to the one that motivated it. And the movie still doesn’t quite capture the complexity of where the educational process with these girls broke down. Credit Lifetime with an earnest attempt to tackle an important issue, down to the obligatory public-service announcement and outreach campaign.
Any resemblance between this and a fully realized movie, however, is purely coincidental. The Pregnancy Pact Lifetime, Sat. Production: Filmed in New Orleans by Frank & Bob Films II. Executive producers, Robert M. Sertner, Frank von Zerneck; producer, Christopher Morgan; co-producer, Laurence Ducceschi; director, Rosemary Rodriguez; writers, Pamela Davis, Teena Booth. Crew: Camera, John Aronson; production designer, Warren A. Young; editor, Tod Feuerman; music, Richard Marvin; casting, Tammara Billik, Jason Wood.
RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN. Cast: Sidney Bloom - Thora Birch Sara Dougan - Madisen Beaty Brady Leary - David Rogers Jesse Moretti - Max Ehrich Michael Dougan - James McCaffrey School Nurse - Camryn Manheim Lorraine Dougan - Nancy Travis.
Sidney Bloom (Thora Birch) is a Internet blog reporter who travels to her hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts to investigate a string of teenage pregnancies and stumbles upon a clique of gullible and naive schoolgirls who have formed a pack to get themselves all pregnant to stick together. As Sidney seeks more answers to why, she also hits obstacles from the conservative community who are in denial as to what's going on right in front of them and being forced to ignore the realty of teen parenting. In voices steeped with shock, CNN's Anderson Cooper and some less-famous newsreaders report on a story involving high school girls who made a pact to get pregnant at the same time. The opening reveals, 'This film is the story of a fictional 'pregnancy pact' set against actual news reports from June 2008, and although some of the locations and public figures are real, any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental.' The young women have sex because they think raising babies at the same time will be fun.
They want to dress them in cute little matching outfits and go to the park. Gloucester, MA graduate Thora Birch (as Sidney Bloom) hears about the rise in pregnancy at her old high school. She's a professional video blogger and decides the spiking pregnancy rate will be a good Internet story. Arriving home with a secret past, Ms. Birch befriends pretty 15-year-old Madisen Beaty (as Sara Dougan).
The red-haired teenager decides to bag (okay, no bag) cute basketball player Max Ehrich (as Jesse Moretti). 'The Pregnancy Pact' is probably good in bringing topics up for discussion among young students and, hopefully, some trusted adults. As a story, it doesn't hold up well. It's difficult to believe events unfolded as they did on screen.
We wonder, even though Mr. Ehrich appears mature for his age, how a 16-year-old has continued success with the withdrawal method. Their high school has 'day care' for students' babies, but nobody seems to know much about how they got there. The leader of the group exclaims, 'It hurts!' And doesn't even know what the word 'pact' means.
From the opening, the high school looks too sexy and unsupervised to be a special school. Birth control can be more than abstinence, condoms and the withdrawal method. The birth control pill would have given the girl's pan to 'get pregnant' more credence. She's not responsible for the 'gift from God,' if he's the one deciding to 'pull out.' It doesn't make sense. However, since she lied about the pact, the basic story still works. The Pregnancy Pact (1/23/10) Rosemary Rodriguez Madisen Beaty, Thora Birch, Jesse Moretti, David Clayton Rogers.