If These Walls Could Talk

Review: I quite enjoyed this deep, emotional drama which is set from the 50's to the 90's about 3 different women, Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and Anne Heche, who all have problems concerning abortion. The first story, which stars Demi Mooore, is the most emotional out of the 3 because it was illegal to have an abortion during the 50's. Demi Moore's performance was brilliant and extremely real. It's a shame that you don't see the outcome of the first story, but it a very well written storyline that will definitely touch the heart. The second story, which is based in the 70's is starring Sissy Spacek as a house wife and a mother of 4 who struggles to have any time for herself because of her hectic lifestyle. When she finds out that she is pregnant, she has to make the difficult decision if to keep or abort the baby. This is another powerful drama that was very well made. The acting by all of the cast was great, along with the storyline which was also, emotional. The third an final storyline which is set in the 90's is starring Anne Heche as teenager who gets pregnant by a married man. She also has to make the decision if to keep or abort the baby, but she gets help from her close friend Jada Pinkett Smith, and the nurses at the clinic. This was also an emotional piece, which stars Cher as a nurse. In all, the whole movie is a right eye opener that was a great watch. Emotional! 

Round-Up: This movie came out when Demi Moore and Cher were in the spotlight and extremely popular. As this movie was an HBO special, it didn't get a major release in the cinemas, but it was talked about at the time. Personally, I hadn't heard of the movie, but I'm glad that I added it to my rental list because it was a great watch. The fact that the whole film is based around the same house was cleverly done by the director and the delicate subject matter was dealt with in a sympathetic and thoughtful way. Although the movie came out in the 90's, it doesn't seem dated or out of touch with matters of this day and age which is why it's worth watching.

I recommend this movie to people who are into there extremely emotional dramas about 3 stories based on abortion which takes place over the years in the same house. 7/10

Excellent film. Shows the realities of abortion and the trials and tribulations of the women who had to endure these situations. True to life and accurate depiction. Hopefully will help others to understand why some women choose to abort. It is not a decision made lightly or without conscious. And the film depicts how important it is for abortion to be legal. How even when it is illegal it still happens.

Very educational. A definite must see. Especially for those unsure of how they feel on this issue.

Excellent casting. Very emotional plots.

I saw this movie back in 97 and thought it was well acted, well thought out and realistic. As it follows different women, in different decades that have the very difficult decision to make on whether to continue a pregnancy or not. All the women are in totally different stages and situations in their personal life and ages.

Sadly, with the RIDICULOUS LAWS TEXAS JUST PASSED in 2021, I see us veering for a collision course with THE HANDMAIDS TALES :O VERy FRighTENing and VERy SAD! They don't care about the Women or the Babies, this is just a Political/Religious Obsession.

I'm surprised that as well as the $10,000 bounty people can get for snitching on a woman or girl they suspect may have had an abortion, that they just don't pass a law to Burn her at the Stake too! :o

Even Ireland finally made abortion legal when they realized the horrific outcomes for so many women and children. The states that are passing these oppressive laws don't want to pay for more welfare, food stamps, housing, birth control and they sure don't make the fathers pay child support either. I still haven't heard where the man gets to share any responsibility in the pregnancy or the punishment with so many unplanned pregnancies???? Why???

And what happens if someone has a miscarriage and someone reports them for the money?? Like it isn't horrible enough for a woman to miscarry and now she will have to be shamed and fight a legal battle too?? WOW! I'm Amazed at the Stupidity and Selfishness that abounds.

There are SO MANY children being abused, physically, emotionally, sexually by their own families EVERY DAY!! And people who shouldn't have kids at all and foster homes overflowing with kids and epidemic numbers of kids born addicted to drugs going thru horrific withdrawals from their 1st breath. People selling or pimping out their kids. WoW! :O My Heart Hurts writing this down, For Real! :(

There's gonna be a Great Migration as women will choose to move away from these Crazy states. And so many Republican's complaining about wearing a mask and social distancing in a Deadly Pandemic in it's 3rd and I'm sure NOT FINAL Wave, shouting It's my body, my choice. Guess that only applies to whether you wanna risk killing your whole family, innocent people you encounter, the health care workers and Drs that are overwhelmed trying to save you dummies.

And rapes are at an all time high and now women and girls have to worry about going to jail or having some creeps child too with NO options??? WoW!!!

The USA is also overwhelmed with mental illness in kids and teens like never before, and kids shooting up schools. Sorry, I don't get it?? And for all you citing the Bible to pass this Ridiculous Law, You know what,1st not everyone believes in your God and the ones that do and choose to have an abortion, well, it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, that is to be settled between her and God ! NOT YOU, So BUTT OUT!! :0.

All three of these short films are good, but the first is outstanding, largely because Demi Moore, whose performances I've otherwise never particularly liked, is so excellent. The point that she and Savoca convey - powerfully - is the sheer isolation, 50 years ago, of women who faced unwanted pregnancies. Moore spends most of the film, it seems, sitting alone in an empty house. Otherwise, she's enduring the company of her late husband's family, who see her only as their boy's widow, not as a human being. It's a frightening story that exerts a very strong empathetic pull.

The dialog is spare; Savoca relies on Moore's face and body language to convey her terror, aloneness and feeling that things are closing in on her. There's very little "emoting" here, which makes Moore's character all the more forceful. The result is an exemplary piece of film acting.

Of course, how much do we need in the way of tears and histrionics when we can see Moore attempting the old knitting needle cure, and later dealing with the aftereffects of a ghastly kitchen-table operation? This country's abortion laws created - and maintain effectively, in many places - a sort of hell for pregnant women. Thanks to this film, we can really understand a bit of what it was - and is - like.

I have just seen 'If These Walls Could Talk' for the first time, and I am completely in awe. This film should be mandatory viewing material for any person who thinks that abortion is an easy choice or that women faced with an unplanned pregnancy should have their right to choose taken away from them.

Sissy Spacek did a wonderful job portraying the most overlooked unplanned pregnancy demographic: the aging career mother who must choose whether or not to make the sacrifice of raising another child. In this story I truly appreciated the message that choosing to have a child is also pro-choice. Anne Heche's role in the final story was the most 'typical' of the three: the single college student who must struggle with her own moral and personal issues when making a choice about her pregnancy. While she portrayed the most common demographic of women who face an unplanned pregnancy, her role was beautifully and honestly acted. But the most riveting and heartbreaking of the three stories featured Demi Moore as a young widow who must make the hardest decision in her life-- to risk not only her career and reputation but the relationship of her in-laws who have taken her in as one of their own by carrying to term the baby of her dead husband's brother, or to risk her life by choosing what was once a barbaric and incredibly dangerous procedure due to the illegality of abortion. Her struggle is disturbing, and any woman who remembers the dark days before Roe v. Wade will feel her character's pain, fear, and especially her desperation. This story in particular showcases why keeping abortion safe and legal is so very necessary.

What struck me most about this film was not only the realism in all three situations, but how each one of the stories showed that "Pro-Choice" is not always "Pro-Abortion"; a fact that those of us who support a woman's right to chose will be all too glad to point out while those of the stauncher anti-choice fold may be a little slow to admit. The struggle that each woman faces in this film is unique, and while another reviewer mistakenly commented that each instance was merely 'cliché', I will argue that each instance was REAL. Rape and incest are not the causes for most unplanned pregnancies, and a great number of women who choose abortion are of legal age to do so. This film would have been 'cliché' if every actor had portrayed a low-income person of color, which is clearly unrealistic. And while violence against abortion providers isn't an every day occurrence, there are people in our society who wish that were the case-- and including this scene in the film shows us, in graphic detail, the hypocrisy of that opinion.

I was surprised that this film, especially the final story, didn't tackle other reproductive choice-related issues such as birth control. However, I was extremely pleased with how the final story educated viewers on the realities of the abortion procedure (mandatory counseling and all)-- a reality which couldn't be further from the horrific depictions offered up by many in the anti-choice camp. Speaking of which: I was grateful for this film showing that not all people who oppose abortion are stereotypical, out of control lunatics, but that the most radical in this faction tend to be, ironically, male. And one comment made by a character regarding adoption truly hit home for me as I once worked in a residential facility for abandoned and abused children that was, like so many others in this country, bursting at the seams: "The last time I checked, there wasn't a shortage of little black babies".

This film needs to be aired during prime time and piped into the Bush White House, if for no other reason than to show that abortion is not a black and white issue, that the argument surrounding it cannot be settled through protest, violence or prohibition, and that restricting a woman's legal right to reproductive choice will only complicate matters further but will not be an end to abortion. Anyone who has ever been faced with an unplanned pregnancy will agree, and anyone who hasn't will learn that their opinion can be subject to change depending on their circumstances.