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Vera Drake
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MPAA RATING: R for depiction of strong thematic material
Starring Imelda Staunton, Richard Graham, Eddie Marsan, Anna Keaveney, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays, Philip Davis, and Lesley Manville
A portrait of a back street abortionist in 1950's London.
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: | Mike Leigh |
| DIRECTED BY: | Mike Leigh |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 29, 2005 Theatrical: October 10, 2004 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 125 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | UK / France / New Zealand |
Golden Lion and Vopli Cup (Best Actress - Staunton), 2004 Venice Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
H C. gave it a5:
I agree almost word for word with the reviewer "Roland D." I did think the first half was quite good so I'm giving it a 5, but really the second half just dies on-screen. The realization that Leigh isn't really taking us anywhere is such a disappointment that it really tarnishes the acting and makes it seem sort of masturbatory --really, I bet it's an actors wet dream to be in a Mike Leigh film. But the acting should be in service of something more than just the acting itself (i.e. plot/story/anything).
David P. gave it a10:
Authentic and powerful.
Cesar B. gave it a10:
Wish I could give it an eleven. Best mainstream film of '04. Performances are stunning all around. Production tight. See it now.
Roland D. gave it a2:
This is a truly dreadful film. Mike Leigh develops his screenplays through a lengthy process of improvisation where the characters and stories are created (the films themselves are not improvised). What this means is that the narratives depend on the chemistry and dynamics of performance. At is best the results can be sublime (such as in ‘Naked’), at its worse, as in Vera Drake, we have a hotchpotch of actor’s mannerisms and stereotypes within a weakly structured, entirely superficial drama. Set in an apocalyptically bleak 50’s London, the familiar Leigh archetypes are all here. The downtrodden working class wallow in a cosy but inarticulate solidarity, their drab lives only brightened by prodigious tea-drinking and cigarettes. The middle class are vacuous, smug and insular. Worst of all are the upwardly aspiring working class who have sacrificed their roots for dreams of suburban respectability. This is the world in which we find Vera Drake, a painfully decent sort of woman whose spare-time is spent ‘helping girls out’ (performing abortions) for free. Vera has been doing this for twenty years, secretly, seemingly oblivious to the moral dilemmas and the risk not only of imprisonment but the potentially fatal consequences of her work. She is also blind to the fact that her childhood friend, who delivers the girls to Vera, has been making a nice little earner out of black market groceries and charging handsomely for Vera’s services. Believe all that and you might possibly believe Leigh has something new to say about what are, obviously, important social and political issues, and that he is world class filmmaker. I, for one, don’t. As in many of Leigh’s films, we have lots of acting but no depth, lots of tears and grim smiles but no real drama. The characters are wafer thin, plumped up by all the tricks and ticks that good actors can pull out of the bag, but at no point do we have any insight into what is going on inside Vera or anyone else’s head. Scenes drag on, information is repeated again and again to pile on the agony while we stare at the peeling brown wallpaper and pour another cup of tea. Within the first few minutes you know where this film is going, and there are no surprises other than the fact that so many people have willingly watched this film through to the end.
Chad K gave it a9:
Fantastic character driven film, in typical Mike Leigh fashion. Strong perfomances from the entire cast. The film is also a good historical account of how our views evolve as time goes on. My only problem with Vera Drakes character was how in the beginning such an apparently strong, confident woman could turn into such a sobing mess as the end.
armando s. gave it a10:
A better movie than the manipulative MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Imelda Staunton should have won the Oscar, but her role was too contoversial for the timid Oscar voters. A film that challenges your preconceptions and opens your eyes. Highly recommended.
Greg m gave it an8:
That was a gritty, dark and dour British period piece about an abortionist, with a heart of gold. Imelda Staunton and all of the cast were terrific and at one point, I said to the person watching this movie with me - "It almost seems like we are eavesdropping on their lives. It seems so real". The ironic part is that laws change and people who are convicted of crimes at one time are innocent in another era. Now, if you want an abortion, you take the "morning after" pill. Vera Drake would not have been convicted in the year 2005.
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