The plot bears similarities to Shebib's best known film, Goin' Down the Road, in which two male partners-in-crime deal with poverty, factory jobs, pregnancy, and moving to a big city.

She is pregnant, which her husband Stanley, an auto mechanic and aspiring race car driver, is delighted about.

[3] Filming resumed when movie financing and management company Seven Arts Studios was able to raise the needed funds.

The New York Times wrote, "Nothing happens in 'Heartaches' that isn't telegraphed 15 minutes ahead of time, but Miss Kidder and Miss Potts are good fun to watch, not because they convince you of the reality of their characters but because they handle their assignments with such unbridled, comic, actressy enthusiasm.”[4] Variety said, the "cast is outstanding with Kidder giving full performance.

However, it is basically Potts’ film as the runaway wife who’s tired of her husband’s immature attitude.”[5] Heartaches was nominated for eleven Genie Awards, winning for Lead Actress for Margot Kidder, Foreign Actress for Annie Potts, and Original Screenplay for Terence Heffernan.