Call Jane
A married woman with an unwanted pregnancy lives in a time in America where she can't get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.
- Released: 2022-10-27
- Runtime: 121 minutes
- Genre: Drama, History
- Stars: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Wunmi Mosaku, Kate Mara, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards, John Magaro, Aida Turturro, Emily Creighton, Gina Jun, Rebecca Henderson, Bianca D'Ambrosio
- Director: Phyllis Nagy
Comments
- kosmasp - 9 August 2023
Life & Death
No pun intended - depending on your moral view and probably your gender, you will have a bit of pre-conception on the movie and its topic. Quite the hot topic to say the least. The movie will not be easy to watch and the real life consequences it touches upon ... well again, depending on your mindset ... it will determine if you are going to "like" what you see here or not.
The thing is, people who are not in the position to make certain decisions (about other people and their bodies) ... well most of the time feel the need to do so anyway. Be it politicians or neighbors or people of faith. A weird thing some might say and feel.
Performance wise this is as amazing as it gets. And since America had some laws ... added and removed ... it could not be more topical if it tried. There are arguments to be had ... but try not to be too judgemental ... something that is touched upon too by the movie (yes even the ones that help have second thoughts sometimes) ... - samabc-31952 - 17 December 2022
Well-made, Well-acted, True events, The Janes
She had a life threatening pregnancy. But the hospital board turns her down when she needed an emergency abortion. She had limited options. Year 1968, 5 years before the Supreme Court ruled under Roe v Wade decision that the constitution conferred the right to have abortion. She visits a shady clinic, considers falling down the stairs and finally finds a flier near the shady clinic she visits: Call Jane. Inspired by true events, this period drama tells a story of a group of staunch and unapologetic grassroots women activists and their ideology of altruism superseding the judgements. When a woman needs help, the underlying reason is not important. Well made and well acted! Fantastic job by screenwriters Roshan Sethi and Hayley Schore for lightening up the serious subject with some humor and still maintaining its quintessence. In today's context, this seems so timely.
This is based on The Jane Collective, a clandestine group in Chicago between 1969 and 1973. It facilitated an estimated 11,000 illegal but safe abortions. It is not just about empowering women as this concept was introduced just in 1985. Women have fought their battles since ages whether it was for suffrage, education, employment or for something as basic a right as abortion. A great watch. - ops-52535 - 16 November 2022
wasnt this a shot...
Of anger towards underbelly of the supreme courts of the states and federation of united states of america, search me if im wrong but this is the new wave of proabortion activism coming to us through the silverscreen media, the cause is important and the story will for sure lit a flame of anger, hope, love and justice in the end...
i shall not make an ethical inclination onto the abortion issues, other than say that many lives and destinies has been saved since the supreme court descisions in the cases between roe vs. Wade and doe vs bolton in 1973, and that the conservatismic leap back to medevalism of 2022 where a comite of men (and a few women) shall decide how a life shall preside, that is an utter violence against womanhood in general.
A film that every probono lawyer should see, a film that every woman with her own wits should see, because this is what will come to be a reality in the years to come.
Its a neat and heartfelt fictious but ever so realfelt story about how things where back then in the 50's and 60's, its an unbloody and quite pure and simplistic as a natural life shall be, boldly presented by a cast of well known actors that dares to choose side in this fog of war on protecting the individual womans rights. So from a grumpy old nursing veteran man its a recommend, its not a perfect plot but they will come in other features. - jchckn13 - 29 October 2022
A sturdy drama on timely abortion themes with enough neutral observation to not be preachy
Despite taking place several decades ago, the theme on abortion is timely and takes a mostly neutral and observational perspective. It certainly leans pro choice in its message by the end but offers many plausible and sympathetic scenarios while not straying into preachy territory. If it had remained completely neutral through the end, I feel it would have been a near masterpiece, but we are missing greater consequences in favor of the successful progression and more insight into debate could have driven the point home harder. Other social commentary on race and gender roles are touched on but never fully addressed. The procedure scenes themselves were done so well that it invokes anxiety involving medical tools or needles, and it did so without showing anything remotely graphic.
Elizabeth Banks gave a terrifically real performance, especially when she was in the chair on both ends. The supporting cast cannot be ignored either, especially the legendary Sigourney Weaver who is always a welcome presence. Delicate, old-fashioned filmmaking also delivered a more engrossing experience with a slow pace and quiet execution of dialogue driven drama with nearly no musical score to distract. This allowed for a more earned emotional appeal as the audience can digest their own feelings on the matter instead of being manipulated into it.
