Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: CALL JANE [Sundance Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]
The texture of "Call Jane" [Premieres] rests in a voice that requires and insists on a sense of empathy in an oppressive world. Director Phyllis Nagy understands the pursuits and insistence of her heroines but also is able to offer a lens without going on any kind of attack per se. "Call Jane" approaches its subject of abortion which is still at the heart of debate nearly 50 years after the film is set. Elizabeth Banks takes a tricky role as Joy and gives it just the right amount of balance of heart, awkwardness and grit to make it work. The build of the story allows this because it is reflective in both an emotional and intellectual way while still getting ot the heart of the matter (which a scene about a 3rd f the way through with her in small medical room reinforces). Of course, every character however well meaning has their own objectives and agendas but resting within that is a cause. Whatever side of the discussion viewers end up is purely their own but setting the film in this period offers it up as a discussion point (as well as a fact of history).
Offering an interesting balance to Banks is Sigourney Weaver as Virginia, an activist of sorts that does what she can, galvanizing the troops while still enjoying a vodka now and again. The beautiful aspect of "Call Jane" is that it is about a sisterhood but doesn't get bogged down in melodrama. It is a period piece and yet it doesn't feel posed. There is just enough levity to ease the pressure of certain scenes and despite any ethical elements, the characters do want to help. Although Nagy, who wrote "Carol" (which was also tricky subject matter)didn't write this filn, she has a deft enough touch to know how to treat her subjects and actors versus say a certain bent that Todd Haynes may have given "Carol". "Call Jane" starts with long shots but becomes more engrossed in the closeness of scenes just allowing the acting to move without overwhelming any style. The story is the thing (which is good) and while the notion of consequence per se is a little sugar coated perhaps in the realm of the overall common good, "Call Jane" understands its characters and its reasoning while showing the path taken. But the key is it always takes those with a certain kind of vision and tenacity to see certain things through. B
By Tim Wassberg
