This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Just so...so bad

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Early on in the film, Director Tony Kaye, shows us a live abortion. The physician's matter-of-fact approach to ending a pregnancy contrasts with the close-up of the aborted products---we see the distinct remains of a small white hand, and a head. That image stayed with me throughout the film. In another part of the film, we are shown late term, dead babies crowded into the clinic's freezer compartment. My first concern is about the accuracy of these visual whammies. The viewer might catch the fact that the woman was twenty weeks along, which makes the abortion being done midway though the second trimester. No recent stats are provided, and I'm wondering what the real statistics are regarding later terminations. We are given a scene where a religious leader with a number of children are planting a field with many small crosses. Later I learn from The New York Times, Oct. 3, 2007, that according to the film's distributor, the images of the late term (intact), dead babies in the "clinic freezer" had been given to Mr. Kaye by members of the anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue. As far as any body knows they could have been dolls---it's not that clear.I missed hearing more from women who were having to decide about an abortion. What were the causes for their dilemmas---was it lack of affordable, available preventives? Were the preventives they were using not effective? Was it the situation they found themselves in---poverty, an abusive partner, lack of information? Is our society pushing both men and women to participate in risky relationships---is our media irresponsible and seductive? What were the areas that needed our attention? It would have been informative to know what happened afterward. Were there emotional complications as the Fundamentalists have claimed? Or did most women feel that while it had been traumatic, they had done the best they could, and had gotten on with their lives?I had the distinct feeling that the first part of the long film, and the last part were done by two different people. Perhaps Kaye changed his view as he went along. We aren't given any obvious hint as to where he stands in this difficult debate. He may have well gone personally back and forth as his film seems to do. The back-and-forth doesn't seem orderly as one would expect a debate to be. At first it seems heavy on one side, and then another, and sometimes you wish he'd settle in and do a consistent, equal time, point-for-point thing. But, I have to say, the film's shock treatment keeps you enough off balance that you begin to realize how complex and big this issue is. Still, I also kept thinking that if anyone were truly serious about doing something about the issue, there were a number of savvy, fairly inexpensive, and effective ways to take care of a lot of the pre-abortion problems---so that abortions would then be needed only for special situations, they would be done safely, and the right to make one's own well-informed decision would be in place.

-- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.This is the most informative and sobering documentary on abortion out there.Have I ever seen an abortion? - No, but now I've seen two, and a lot of fetuses. Have I ever seen a woman dead from coathanger abortion? - Now I have, and I know the statistics. Have I ever seen a man who wanted to keep his baby, but the mother got an abortion? - Now I have, and it's hard to watch. Have I ever seen what it's like for a woman going through an abortion? - Now I have, and it's hard to watch.What I found particularly fascinating, was that the movie doesn't just show both sides, it shows a lot of the gray area in between. It covers opinions that are simple, philosophically articulate, in poor taste, and from famous figures. It doesn't state an opinion, but provides the information for viewers to formulate theirs, as a good documentary should. I recommend people watch this, and even if their stance stays the same, I hope they have a better understanding of the people they disagree with.The only thing that bothered me was that I felt the movie showed a bit more fringe pro-lifers than rational ones, and I wondered why that was. In the Q&A with Tony Kaye, I asked if he had encountered any other pro-lifers such as the one author, who was neither religious nor political. His answer was eventually: You saw it. When someone else asked him outright what his personal views on abortion are, his answer was eventually, that it is a complex issue. I feel this is fair, and doesn't change this being an excellent documentary, but I would subtract half a star if I could.

I fell upon this "documentary" strictly by accident. I wasn't too surprised that the work, which was supposed to show the abortion debate from "both sides", was decidedly slanted to the pro-abortion end of it.Except for the wonderful story of how Minister Flip Benham, & his child, were used by God to bring Norma McCorvey out of her misery into hope, this film seemed to be fixated with the murders of 3 abortionists by fringe people who had affiliated themselves with the pro-life movement. As just 1 example, it doesn't even mention that John Salvi not only shot the people in the abortion mill, but also threatened the pro-lifers outside. However, we did get a wonderful reading of a scripted dissertation by the guard who exchanged fire with Salvi.When going back & forth between the 2 sides, I noticed that the film maker continued to use lettered-people (professors & such) for the pro-abortion side, but failed to reciprocate for the pro-life side. Legitimate source such as Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist & partner of abortionist Bill Baird, was nowhere to be found to counterpoint Baird's presentation & to address the false assertion of the numbers of women who allegedly died due to using coat hangers to abort. Nathanson was a founding member of the North American Abortion Rights Action League (NAARAL), which is now the National Abortion Rights Action League(NARAL). He could have recounted how those figures were pulled out of thin air by the NAARAL group.To be balanced, they could have shown at least one of the numerous families who have multiple adopted children, adopted with no regard as to culture (race). Instead many of the "pro-choice" side were allowed to continue with the canard that pro-lifers only cared about white children & didn't care about children at all after their birth. My wife & I would have gladly interviewed for this segment. Or, I could have put them in touch with at least 1/2 dozen other families who have done as we have done. That would have been presenting both sides.I can only say that, as it was alleged that this would show both sides, I must assume that there will be a part 2, as this part didn't live up to the hype.

Unlike some here, I'd say it's quite obvious which side of the debate Tony Kaye himself lies on; that of pro choice. Although it presents both sides of the argument, the only sane representatives are on the side of choice. Now I don't know enough about the pro-lifers to know if they're all as nutty as the people presented to us in this film. Some aren't quite as crazy, for instance Norma McCorvey, whose reasons for now being pro-life can be understood (she was basically pressured into feelings of guilt for her part in Roe v Wade) if not supported.What most of this boils down to is religious fanaticism. The vast majority of the pro-lifers use religious 'teachings' as their argument for abolishing abortion rights. I say that it's unwise to base any serious decisions on something as debatable and dubious as anything the bible has to say. After all, the bible at various points would have whole tribes of people wiped from the face of the earth, it would sacrifice daughters to prevent men from making sodomites of themselves, 'god' turns a woman to a pillar of salt for the heinous crime of looking back at her home. Good grief, what a terrible sin! Almost as bad as committing blasphemy for which crime some in this film seemed to think it was acceptable to face the death penalty. We need to be worried about the religious fanatics in this country, not complacent about them. With Bush's encouragement they have grown in strength and the abortion fight is just a part of their whole game.Tony Kaye did a brilliant job here of showing us all of that. Pro Lifers can't possibly be happy about this film, even though it doesn't candy coat anything - we get to see abortion in all its gory glory. Nevertheless, I feel that if someone is sitting on the fence about the issue and sees this film, they're unlikely to want to associate themselves with the crazies portrayed herein, especially the lunatic priest in Colorado who claims that abortion doctors are Satan worshipers who dangle the expelled fetus by the leg and then barbecue it. Clearly he's one or two marbles short! To summarize, this is an absorbing if somewhat long documentary which presents various arguments for and against abortion and satisfactorily raises most of the issues. Rent the video and devote an evening to watching it but be prepared to run the gamut of your emotions (whichever side of the issue you support), from anger to frustration, fascination to sadness.