A suburban housewife falls in with a group of activists in Call Jane, a Sundance Film Festival premiere directed by Phyllis Nagy, the writer of Carol. Elizabeth Banks is a likeable lead in this sto…
is a likeable lead in this story inspired by the network of women who arranged safer illegal abortions in 1960s and ’70s Chicago. Written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, it strikes an upbeat, non-judgmental note while exploring the gender and body politics of the time.
Banks plays Joy, a smart, pregnant mother who helps her lawyer husband Will with his work, while assuming the duties of a traditional homemaker. After Joy collapses, the doctor discovers a medical condition that could be life-threatening if her pregnancy continues — but their petition for a “therapeutic termination” is denied by the all-male board. Desperate, Joy sees a flyer saying, “Pregnant? Anxious?… Call Jane.
Unlike many an abortion drama , this doesn’t dwell on either risk or conflicting emotions; it is taken for granted that these women have been helped enormously. The script is careful to point out that they include rape victims, underage girls and poverty-stricken mothers of many, and Gwen petitions for the Black women among them.
Rocking a Gloria Steinem look, Weaver is one of the film’s finest assets, thoroughly convincing as world-weary ’60s feminist who can talk women or men into anything . Meanwhile, the excellent soundtrack has the mood of a hippy love-in, mixing evocative, lesser-known tracks by everyone from Nancy Sinatra to The Velvet Underground, perhaps the most pointed being Malvina Reynolds’ “What’s Goin’ On Down There.