One Mann’s Movies review of Roe v. Wade (2021).

Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:

Plot Summary:

Roe v Wade was a controversial vote by the US Supreme Court in 1973 over whether abortion should be legalized across the US, following its earlier legalization in New York state.

Following an early personal tragedy, Dr. Bernard Nathanson (Nick Loeb) is a leading abortion advocate, making a tidy living by performing abortions in New York. Together with writer and journalist Larry Lader (Jamie Kennedy) the pair lobby for the “Right to Choose”: to legalize abortion across the country. They ‘recruit’ Norma McCorvey (Summer Joy Campbell), under the pseudonym of Jane Roe, to headline their case.

Against them are the ‘Pro-Life’ lobby headed by Dr. Mildred Jefferson (Stacey Nash) with Henry Wade (James DuMont), the district attorney for Dallas County, being the opposing plaintiff.

The backdrop to the pro-choice debate of 1973. (Source: redletterchristians.org).

Certification:

US: PG-13. UK: -.

Talent:

Starring: Nick Loeb, Jamie Kennedy, Stacey Dash, Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Corbin Bernsen, Steve Guttenberg

Directed by: Cathy Allyn, Nick Loeb.

Written by: Cathy Allyn, Ken Kushner, Nick Loeb.

One of the standout performances – Jon Voight as Justice Berger. (Source: Quiver Distribution)

Review:

Positives:

  • It’s a brave team that put a movie together about such an emotionally charged subject, and Nick Loeb and crew should be congratulated for having the balls to do so.
  • As in “The Trial of the Chicago 7“, this was subject matter from the era from the US 1960/1970’s that I was completely unaware of, so I didn’t know where the movie might go (no spoilers here).
  • The movie plays its cards pretty close to its chest for most of the running time as regards whose ‘side’ it is on: pro-Life or pro-Choice. You see each team working their own corner, and the facts for and against are provided to the viewer (which Nick Loeb asserts have been thoroughly fact checked).
  • The film comes to life most in some of the legal debates between Professor Robert Byrn (Joey Lawrence) and his students. These were the scenes which I enjoyed most, and Lawrence delivers one of the better acting performances in the movie.
  • There’s fun in seeing a lot of ‘old pros’ appearing in cameos as the supreme court judges: Jon Voight (“Mission Impossible”); Bond villain Robert Davi (“Licence to Kill”); Corbin Bernsen (“LA Law”) and Steve Guttenberg (“3 Men and a Baby”).

Justice Douglas (Richard Portnow) and Justice Brennan (Robert Davi) in discussion on the issue. (Source: Quiver Distribution)

Negatives:

  • There’s no polite way to say this but, as a relatively low-budget movie, some of the supporting performances are on the decidedly ropey side.
  • I wanted to see more of the legal debate between the members of the Supreme court…. but I suspect the shooting time available with these ‘big name’ actors was limited. That’s a shame.
  • This is not a “Trial of the Chicago 7”, and the script is NOT by Aaron Sorkin. It generally lacks polish. And there is way too much “Oh, hello <<Insert full title and name of character here>>” which is distractingly unnatural (just use sub-titles!).
  • Those familiar with my blog will know of my UTTER HATRED of voiceovers in movies! This is deployed throughout (by Nick Loeb) and irritated me enormously. More “Show”…. less “Tell”!
  • The movie doesn’t know when to quit. There is a natural and dramatic “end point” to the story. But the movie tacks on multiple ‘epilogue’ scenes. Some of these are interesting and informative, showing broadcasts of the ‘real-life’ participants. Others are superfluous, and lessen the overall impact of the message. IMHO, it would have been better to end at the natural end-point of the story, then ‘do a “Sully“‘ by dropping the real life photos and interviews as insets into the end-titles.

Additional Notes:

  • The director/star Nick Loeb was kind enough to send me an early link to “Roe v Wade”: marked as a “rough cut”, so there may be some updates made to the finished product. It is due to stream on the usual services (including Amazon, Itunes, Google Play and On Demand) from April 2nd.
  • I’ll sometimes put ‘warnings’ for sensitive viewers into my reviews. As the subject matter is abortion, then this may naturally self-deselect certain viewers. But to be clear, the movie does ‘go there’ in two short, almost subliminal, scenes that will almost certainly upset any parents that have been through any form of pre-natal loss. Watcher beware.

Summary thoughts:

Abortion. The very word triggers a polarizing opinion, either on the side of the ‘pro-Life’ or the ‘pro-Choice’ camps. This is not an issue where it is easy to sit on the fence. So it’s a brave move by Nick Loeb and Cathy Allyn to base their movie around the subject. (The production of “Roe v Wade” was not without incident, it appears, filmed as it was through the most turbulent and presidential term in history.)

The budget afforded to the movie (around $6.5m) has clearly been invested into some high-profile names to act as judges on the Supreme Court: which semi-retired actor would pass up that opportunity?! And I found these some of the best scenes in the film: I just wanted more of them.

Some of the supporting cast just don’t have the acting chops to convincingly pull off their roles, which is a shame. The film has a ropey start: I found a Washington Post interviewer (Chris Lemmon) to be far from convincing. This sets a negative impression for the movie’s quality early on. Having one of the older experienced guys drafted in to do this part would, I think, have been better. Where’s a Robert Redford cameo when you need one? I found Lucy Davenport‘s portrayal of the author and activist Betty Friedan to be about 20% over the top in most of her scenes.

Nick Loeb, although not having many recognizable feature films to his name (at least, not for this reviewer) equips himself adequately throughout, and impressively in a dramatic and surprising operating room twist. It’s interesting that Loeb has his own relationship with the subject of embryos. Loeb engaged in a court battle over the right to use the fertilized frozen embryos arising from his earlier relationship with “Modern Family” actress Sofía Vergara (see his wiki entry). It’s a story that could form the basis for an interesting feature film in its own right.

Stacey Dash and Joey Lawrence are both very watchable, with Lawrence’s student debates being, for me, the best things in the film. The acting kudos though goes to the old pro Jon Voight: although he’s recently expressed some bat-shit crazy political views, there’s no doubting his acting ability. I couldn’t get enough of his scenes in the movie.

The variability in the acting and the somewhat clunky script would normally lead me to rate the movie lower. But the novel subject matter on an historical topic I knew nothing about makes “Roe v Wade” a movie that is worth sticking through. Certainly food for thought.

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Walter Ruzek
Walter Ruzek
2 years ago

From your review you I’d expect about 7 stars!

Trailer:

The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JO2HQy7EtM .

By bobwp

Dr Bob Mann lives in Hampshire in the UK. Now retired from his job as an IT professional, he is owner of One Mann's Movies and an enthusiastic reviewer of movies as "Bob the Movie Man". Bob is also a regular film reviewer on BBC Radio Solent.

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Walter Ruzek
Walter Ruzek
2 years ago

From your review you I’d expect about 7 stars!

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