Paternity

Reynolds tones down the Southern accent that goes with his popular redneck image for the part of New York's most eligible bachelor, just turned 44 and realising that his life is empty without progeny. The decision that he wants to be a father, and the recruitment of waitress Beverly D'Angelo as the mother (she needs the money for her music studies), sets the scene for a lightweight sex comedy, with her whiling away her pregnancy in his luxurious Manhattan apartment while he continues to womanise. Any notion that a topical social issue will be taken as seriously as it deserves is decisively scotched long before the thoroughly predictable romantic ending; but Paternity is difficult to actually dislike, largely because of its engaging duo of stars.