Released 2004
Stars Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Peter Wight, Daniel Mays, Alex Kelly, Eddie Marsan, Adrian Scarborough, Heather Craney, Jim Broadbent
Directed by Mike Leigh

Vera Drake is a melodious plum pudding of a woman who is always humming or singing to herself. She is happy because she is useful, and likes to be useful. She works as a cleaning woman in a rich family's house, where she burnishes the bronze as if it were her own, and then returns home to a crowded flat to cook, clean and mend for her husband, son and daughter, and cheer them up when they seem out of sorts. She makes daily calls on invalids to plump up their pillows and make them a nice cup of tea, and once or twice a week she performs an abortion.

"Vera Drake" is not so much pro or anti-abortion as it is opposed to laws which do little to eliminate abortion but much to make it dangerous for poor people. No matter what the law says, then or now, in England or America, if you can afford a plane ticket and the medical bill you will always be able to obtain a competent abortion, so laws essentially make it illegal to be poor and seek an abortion.

Even in saying that I am bringing more ideology into "Vera Drake" than it probably requires. The strength of Leigh's film is that it is not a message picture, but a deep and true portrait of these lives. Vera is kind and innocent, but Lily, who procures the abortions, is hard, dishonest and heartless. The movie shows the law as unyielding, but puts a human face on the police. And the enduring strength of the film is the way it shows the Drake family rising to the occasion with loyalty and love.

Summary by Roger Ebert

I liked this movie for so many reasons. One was there were no villains or gimmicks. There was just a simple straight-forward story that relied on great performances that appeared too natural to be called acting. More than that, though, I appreciated it for its morality, or lack thereof, because it's not a preachy film. It's quite matter-of-fact about the need for some young women to terminate their pregnancy, and Vera was happy to help. She was too oblivious or obtuse to think of it in any terms other than helping, and the movie hints this was because someone helped her once when she was young and in need. You could argue the real crime was the fact that rich women had access to legal abortions while the poor had to put their lives in the hands of someone like Vera. Like I said, there were no villains in this movie. The police did their job as compassionately as they could, and they did so because they believed they were saving young women's lives, which was true. You can't argue that women like Vera should not be allowed to do this because it's dangerous, but you can certainly argue there should be a safe alternative. This movie works because it shows the real world in which these things happen, and it does so without getting on a soapbox. It's a wonderful movie. --Bill Alward, April 26, 2005