Generation

Just-married New York City couple, residing in an East Village hovel (apparently rat-infested, and with drunks sleeping in the doorways), have prided themselves on living a totally independent lifestyle--the husband is even determined to deliver his wife's baby at home (the point, one assumes, is that hospitals are a rip-off). Enter David Janssen as the girl's father, a suit-and-tie advertising executive from Denver, who finds his daughter's arrangement rather appalling. Lousy generation-gap comedy-drama by William Goodhart, adapted from his own Broadway play (which starred Henry Fonda as the Establishment dad), wants to have a two-way argument on the facts, but the couple's sunny, optimistic outlook is kiddie-cute and illogical. These two seem foolish turning down the father's many offers of financial help (although dimply Pete Duel does have a moment where he questions his own motives as purely selfish). A few funny bits near the beginning are nearly canceled out by stagnant third act wherein the daughter goes into labor. Sterilize the sheets! Boil the water! Find a better movie! *1/2 from ****