Les choix de vie

For January 1999 it might not be provacitive. But for 1986 it was. It was for that period a gutsy TV movie to make.

Melissa Gilbert is Terry Granger, the 19 year old law student daughter of 62 year old New York retired judge Evan (George C Scott) and his 38 year old wife former concert pianist Marisa (Jacqueline Bisset). Terry finds she is pregnant to her ex-boyfriend medical student Scott (Steven Flynn) and must face her father's objections to her having an abortion. The issue becomes complicated when Marisa too becomes pregnant.

Gilbert wears her wavy brown hair in a short triangle style and gives spunk to Terry as a rebellious teen. We see Terry swimming laps in a one-piece suit, wearing an American Rock Café waitress uniform, and dancing in a low-backed short slinky shiny black dress wearing glitter eye make-up. Although she can't match Scott's intensity, Gilbert tries hard, smiling at one of his jokes, and using an effective pause before answering a question. She is vulnerable when telling Scott about the pregnancy, and touching when crying with Marisa, though later she squeezes her eyes to force the tears.

The teleplay by Judith Parker includes pro-choice and the right-to-lifer's via picketing outside a clinic, and the treatment is free of cliché. Director David Lowell Rich uses an odd low angle for Terry's dancing, and presents Bisset unflatteringly. She doesn't embarrass herself opposite Scott, who is gruff and funny, but she does have a stream-of-consciousness monologue in a church that she strains to perform.

This movie was actually made-for-TV; the cast is stellar. Scott and Jacqueline Bissett make a compelling couple, and TV-star Melissa Gilbert ("Little House on the Prairie") hits all the right notes as a strong-willed, insecure college student coming home on Christmas break who discovers she's pregnant by her less-than-committed boyfriend. (No spoiler here; it's on the DVD cover blurb.) This film captures the anger and frustration of both sides of the abortion debate, which had become very ugly by the mid-80's. In particular, the script being written by a woman was a first for this kind of drama, and the lead actors do a fine job of conveying the confusion and heartbreak that so many women were grappling with during that period -- and still are today.

This is one of those movies that tries to be provocative. - here the issue is abortion. Don't bother.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect about the television movie Choices is that everyone in the cast is playing against-type, and they're all wonderful. George C. Scott plays a man who thinks he's the head of his family, but really no one listens to him. It's a far cry from Patton, isn't it? Jacqueline Bisset has beauty and class, but in this role she's open and emotional. She has a couple of crying scenes that feel very realistic, and she really helps the story along. Melissa Gilbert is unrecognizable from her Little House on the Prairie days, as a fully 1980s-teenager, decked out in jean jackets, permed hair, and backless clubbing dresses. She's also faced with the most difficult decision of any teen's life: what to do about her accidental pregnancy.

No doubt, because of the subject matter, this tv movie was completely ignored at the awards season, but I highly recommend it. I loved the twists and turns of the story, and the acting was top-notch. Everyone's different arguments were laid out lucidly and without bias. It's rare, but this movie didn't take sides. It let you listen to each character and form your own opinion. This movie won't be for everyone, but if you're open to a realistic discussion about abortion, you'll find it very interesting.