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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "VERA DRAKE" (2004) (Imelda Staunton, Adrian Scarborough) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate None *Extreme *Mild None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None None None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Moderate Moderate Heavy *Heavy QUICK TAKE: Drama: An unassuming, working class mother must deal with the repercussions of secretly performing bedroom abortions on those who have nowhere else to turn. PLOT: Vera Drake (IMELDA STAUNTON) is a 1950s era, middle-aged, English woman who's just as content selflessly caring for her neighbors as she is her working class family. Her husband, Frank (ADRIAN SCARBOROUGH), runs an automotive shop with his brother Stan (PHIL DAVIS) who's married to the self-centered Joyce (HEATHER CRANEY). Vera's adult son Sid (DANIEL MAYS) is a tailor, while she hopes to fix up her socially awkward adult daughter Ethel (ALEX KELLY) to a friendly neighbor Reg (EDDIE MARSAN). Unbeknownst to them and with the aid of Lily (RUTH SHEEN) who arranges such meetings, Vera secretly induces miscarriages for desperate women who have no where else to turn for such matters. Although she knows the practice is illegal, Vera sees herself as helping out fellow women in need. Yet, when one of her clients has a bad reaction to the procedure, Vera must deal with her personal and familial repercussions as the authorities set out to find and then prosecute her for her actions. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of anyone in the cast, director Mike Leigh or are interested in movies dealing with the abortion issue, it's highly unlikely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For depiction of strong thematic material. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: IMELDA STAUNTON plays an unassuming, middle-aged woman who selflessly cares for her family and others, including pregnant women who have no where else to turn to end their unwanted pregnancies. She helps induce miscarriages in them, but must deal with the repercussions of her law-breaking behavior. ADRIAN SCARBOROUGH plays her loving husband who's unaware of her secret activities, but stands by her when she's caught and prosecuted for her actions. He smokes a few times. DANIEL MAYS plays their adult son, a tailor who's also unaware of his mother's actions but then becomes quite mad at her when he learns of them. He smokes a few times. ALEX KELLY plays his socially awkward, adult sister who takes a liking to Reg. EDDIE MARSAN plays the family's neighbor who develops similar feelings for her and smokes a few times. PHIL DAVIS plays their uncle who works with Frank. HEATHER CRANEY plays his self-centered wife who looks down on others. RUTH SHEEN plays the woman who arranges for the meetings between Vera and the pregnant women and secretly accepts payment for doing so. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a quick look at the content found in this R-rated drama. Some non-explicit, but sexually related dialogue is present (while a handful of colorful phrases are also uttered), a woman climbs onto her husband to have sex (both are clothed and we only see kissing) and some women are seen in their undergarments or with their legs spread during abortion procedures (but nothing explicit is seen). A woman induces miscarriages for various women, another woman secretly accepts money for arranging such meetings and a man rapes a woman (we only see the beginning of the incident). Other bad attitudes are present, as are some tense family moments as the abortionist's family reacts to discovering what she does in secret. Various characters drink and/or smoke. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Vera places what may be a bottle of liquor onto a shelf (from a shopping bag). A young woman drinks with some other people. Sid and others have beer. A young woman and her friend drink. They offer Vera a drink, but she declines. Stan tells Frank that they'll have beer for the guys and sherry for the ladies. Miscellaneous people have drinks in a pub where Stan has a beer and Vera has a drink. The family has a toast with wine, while the ladies appear to have sherry or something similar. Sid has wine. We see drinks in front of various family members. BLOOD/GORE None. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Those opposed to abortion will obviously view Vera's actions (that apparently having been going on for twenty-some years), as well as the women having abortions as having extreme bad attitudes (although most of the woman don't seem confident with what they're doing). In addition, all of them are breaking the law of the land and time. A woman tells her daughter that she (the daughter) looks flat-chested. A drunken man comes on to a young woman, seemingly trying to get her to touch his clothed crotch. He then climbs on top of her, starts to remove his suspenders and it's implied that he rapes her. We don't see the actual act, but later hear that she's pregnant from it. Joyce doesn't look highly upon Vera, calling her a busybody. Lily is the woman who acts as Vera's scheduler, and she takes payment for her services (without Vera's knowledge). A medical doctor agrees to perform an abortion on a young woman (despite it being illegal at the time). We hear that a woman cheated on her husband (and got pregnant) while he was in Korea. Lily refers to a black woman as a "darkie" and states that they should stay where they are (rather than come to England). Joyce has a self-centered attitude and wants to leave the house rather than find out what the police want with Vera. Vera meets other abortionists in prison who state that they're there (in prison) for performing that act (and being caught and convicted more than once for breaking the law). FRIGHTENING SCENES Those who've directly or indirectly experienced a rape may view the following scene as deserving a higher rating than "mild." A drunken man comes on to a young woman, seemingly trying to get her to touch his clothed crotch. He then climbs on top of her, starts to remove his suspenders and it's implied that he rapes her. We don't see the actual act, but later hear that she's pregnant from it. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Due to some occasionally thick accents, some of the dialogue is a bit hard to understand at times. That said, we hear the following phrases: "Fag" (cigarette), "You clot (or clod)," "Bastards," "Old cock" (British slang noted as an affectionate term for an old man), "Stupid cow," "You silly bugger" and "Bloody" (adjective). It's possible the film could inspire some teens to try to perform a home abortion. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY Due to some occasionally thick accents, some of the dialogue is a bit hard to understand at times. That said, we hear the following: At least 1 use of "Oh my God." Profanity note: The term "old cock" is used, but as an affectionate British term for an old man. SEX/NUDITY A classic statue shows bare breasts. A drunken man comes on to a young woman, seemingly trying to get her to touch his clothed crotch. He then climbs on top of her, starts to remove his suspenders and it's implied that he rapes her. We don't see the actual act, but later hear that she's pregnant from it. Joyce tells Frank, who's much older and visibly tired, that he needs to come on top of her and that they need to do it now (meaning sex so that she can get pregnant). She then climbs on top of him in bed (both are clothed) and passionately kisses him as she pulls up his shirt (we later hear/see that she's pregnant from this or another encounter -- and this is played more for dry laughs than eroticism). We see Vera between a woman's spread legs (seen from the side and other non-revealing angles, so we don't see anything explicit, although we see bare, spread legs and a hiked up dress). We see the woman's brief pained reaction as Vera puts her hand inside her to check things out. Vera then pumps her water mixture into the woman, with talk of her filling up and that the mixture will eventually cause the miscarriage. As the two discuss Vera's next client (a woman with seven kids), Lily states that the father obviously can't control himself. We see a young woman in her bra and slip in a doctor's office. A psychiatrist asks a young and pregnant rape victim if she was a virgin and she indicates she was (he doesn't yet realize she was raped). He then asks if she loves the father and then if she loved him at the point of conception (she replies no for both). We see another of Vera's clients whose legs are spread, but her crotch is covered. We briefly see a sick young woman in her underwear in a doctor's office. SMOKING Sid, Reg and Frank each smoke more than once, while Stan, Lily and Joyce each smoke once. Various miscellaneous characters smoke in various scenes/settings. TENSE FAMILY SCENES A man mentions losing his mother during the war. Vera's family must come to grips with what she's been doing in secret (performing abortions). In particular, Sid is not happy with her at all, although he eventually tells her that he loves her. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Abortion. A drunken man comes on to a young woman, seemingly trying to get her to touch his clothed crotch. He then climbs on top of her, starts to remove his suspenders and it's implied that he rapes her. We don't see the actual act, but later hear that she's pregnant from it. There's talk of experiences in WWII and Korea. A detective asks Vera if it (having an abortion) happened to her when she was younger, and she just cries (implying that it did). VIOLENCE A drunken man comes on to a young woman, seemingly trying to get her to touch his clothed crotch. He then climbs on top of her, starts to remove his suspenders and it's implied that he rapes her. We don't see the actual act, but later hear that she's pregnant from it. Those who view abortion as murder will obviously view Vera's actions as extreme in the violence category. Reviewed September 1, 2004 / Posted October 22, 2004

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