VERA DRAKE
Directed & Written by: Mike Leigh.
Produced by: Simon Channing Williams & Alain Sarde.
Director of Photography: Dick Pope.
Edited by: Jim Clark.
Music by: Andrew Dickson.
Released by: Fine Line.
Country of Origin: UK. 125 min. Rated: R.
With: Imelda Staunton, Eddie Marsan, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays, Phil Davis, Heather Craney & Ruth Sheen.

In fog-shrouded London, the indefatigable and chipper Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) greets everyone she meets in her East End neighborhood. She goes about offering tea and sympathy, first to a shut-in, then to lonely bachelor Reg (Eddie Marsan). But among her acts of mercy is to matter-of-factly help out women in trouble with the aid of soapy water and a pump. Her clientele runs the gamut from a frightened teenager to a blasé socialite who sips a cocktail during the procedure. Director and writer Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy) briskly depicts the stratum of 1950s London, enriched by great period details: rationing, Vera's recollections of the recent blitz, and the New Look fashion. It is rare for any film's exposition to be this compelling. In doing so, Leigh offers his customary sharp commentary of the British class system. While Vera, a domestic, expects no money for her clandestine house calls, the intermediary, black-marketing Lily (Ruth Sheen), collects two guineas a piece from the women (unbeknownst to Vera).

Just when Vera seems more of an idea rather than a character, she pays a call to a bewildered black immigrant who is even more frightened after her abortion. She's hardly reassured by Vera's rote advice of, "What you need right now is a nice cup of tea." Shattering her saintly image, Vera abruptly leaves the woman alone and terrified. Adding to Vera's complexity is the tacit assumption that Vera, more concerned for the welfare of others, has neglected her own daughter, Ethel, who makes Laura of The Glass Menagerie seem like an extrovert. Because Leigh creates many vignettes featuring women of various backgrounds and needs, the film is well-rounded, thought-provoking and ultimately nonjudgmental regarding the abortion issue. And by delaying the inevitable, Leigh maximizes the suspense before a celebratory dinner at Vera's home and a police investigation collide. The film becomes less about abortion and more about the impact of Vera's secret on her family.

Imelda Staunton brings as much color to the role as is written. Unfortunately, the direction of the large cast is uneven. Alex Kelly, as Ethel, assumes one physical position and maintains it throughout the film - head down, shoulders hunched over. A brief scene where Ethel and Reg walk catatonically through the park, out on a date, comes across as unintentionally humorous. Vera's sister-in-law, the materialistic platinum-blond Joyce (Heather Craney), is a caricature, but also the unexpected voice of reason. Being an obvious object of ridicule, her observation will probably go unnoticed. In fact, any woman here who is upwardly mobile or well-to-do is performed like a second-rate Noel Coward sophisticate (chin up, deigning to look anyone in eye, cigarette in hand). And yet even as the last act is weighed down by pathos (there are far too many close-ups of Vera tearing up), the strong story and empathetic characters undeniably maintain interest. Kent Turner
November 4, 2004