Call Jane

The right to choose was settled until it wasn't! Who would have thought that another "Call Jane" movement would be necessary in 2023?

The film while not perfect get the message across that women were not in control of their own bodies, could not terminate a pregnancy even when medically necessary and the woman's life was in danger. One of the opening scenes has Elizabeth Banks as Joy, pregnant with congestive heart trouble and a hospital board of men voting no on terminating her pregnancy because she might live through it. I almost forgot how dire the situation was back when abortion was illegal in my lifetime. The pill had just become available and has been life changing for women. The film does a good job portraying that time. What a travesty that women's rights have been taken away in more than half of America. I would not have ever predicted that we could regress but we have. It is a tragic state of affairs.

Termination is everyone woman's right. It is a private decision. Laws against women, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and culpability against anyone willing to help girls and women access to medical help are despicable.

I recommend this film for everyone.

This isn't a film to just watch when you're bored and want to be entertained. This is real life! This is something everyone should watch in a serious matter with no distractions.

I watched this as I have a strong passion for women's rights. Abortion is healthcare and should not be taken away by anywhere that does it and needs to be accessible to everyone in the world. To think the things seen in this film are still happening in the USA "the land of the free" in 2024 because they decided to overturn Roe V Wade and undo the happy ending this film portrayed.

I've never had an abortion myself but yet could feel the uncomfortableness Joy was putting across in that well staged depressing room. You can feel the difference in care by the women on the bed in the other room later on in the film (even if the procedure is a bit off in professional terms as they're sat up too much).

Yes the film starts off a little slow but I think it shows the reality of the slow and painful process of women's lives and choices they have to make.

If you are looking for an entertaining movie mostly, you will be disappointed probably, but if you have an open mind and appreciate the input that movies can and do provide for expanding one's understanding of life's great challenges, then you should not be disappointed. That along with this review's headline is my conclusion, upfront.

Firstly, the IMDb synopsis and especially the storyline further below it will provide you sufficient information to decide if you want to see this movie. I was swayed mostly by the three lead actors whose names usually will make me consider watching the movies in which they perform, namely Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina and the lead actor also, Elizabeth Banks. It is not any of those three's best performances, in my opinion, but the characters they play and their situation or the circumstances depicted may be the factors that made me immerse myself in the period, 50 years ago, and especially in the battle they fought, the one for women's right to an abortion. I've been, in principle, always a supporter of the cause and for the rights. The movie gave however something more than justification, it gave me the feeling that made my reasons for supporting the cause more human and definitely more real. I can only imagine how this movie will make women viewers feel, as I am but a man. I'm serious because the story was a serious one and still the fight for those rights are serious today, in America without a doubt.

In June of this year, 2022, America got a shot to its perceived rights, well they were not so 'acquired' anymore, when the Supreme Court overturned the defining 1973 landmark decision we all know as Roe vs Wade. It was a setback that justifiably angered most women and anyone really supportive of the needed rights. I will repeat the word 'need' and 'needed' because it was what this movie allowed me to appreciate with greater sensitivity. The story of the women in the movie is no different than the actual circumstances that existed then, exist today and always will. The story paints that picture well enough, not like a photograph but perhaps like a Van Gogh painting might to the discerning eye.

It may or not change some minds, but it's the best source for a getting a perspective called for, one beyond simply believing in a principle but understanding a need. The movie was released in Oct-2022 after the Dobbs case proceedings, the one the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June 2022; it was fair timing for the release which many, I read, wanted released sooner, not that it would have made a difference. The movie however reinforced the ensuing political debates before US midterm elections. Movies such as this one are part of what makes cinema a valued art, even when it's not Oscar material. After seeing the movie online, I was compelled to write a review; I would be thrilled if it convinced anyone, one would be good, to watch it in turn.

Call Jane is a must watch. Not necessarily because it is the best film around, but because it is so vitally important given the state of the world today.

It is hard not to be very emotionally stirred by this tale of courageous women taking control of their own bodies and their futures in the face of oppression.

The central performance from Elizabeth Banks is very engaging, playing a character that it is easy to sympathise with and connect to.

The story is engaging and well told, if not overly flashy.

I do think certain elements of the film could have been explored and developed more, and it could have been a bit more punchy in parts.

But still, given the state of the world and the ridiculous oppression of women's bodies, it is hard to ignore the importance of a film like this.

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.