Call Jane is a breezy indie dramedy about back-alley abortions. Read that sentence again.
While it crosses over into something transgressive a few times — for example, a debate about who gets their limited free abortion slots (a rape victim, a 12 year old, etc.) that plays like dinnertime banter — but in general what’s most surprising about Call Jane is how down-the-middle and low-stakes the movie is given its subject matter.
The film presents itself as uplifting slice of feminism, which I suppose is part of the point: its characters (and its filmmakers) want to normalize reproductive rights the same we do voting rights and freedom of the press and the usual topics of films like this. But it still feels so tonally jarring to me.
It’s well-made enough as a production. Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver are reliably charismatic, and Cory Michael Smith gives the film a blast of dark wryness as the doctor performing the abortions. But it just feels a little bit baffling and off-key its whole runtime.
Is It Good?
Nearly Good (4/8)
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