Written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, and directed by Phyllis Nagy, Call Jane is a fictionalized account of the very real underground organization known as the Jane Collective, which was based in Chicago in the mid-1960s, offering pregnant woman who were in need of an abortion to acquire one relatively safely and discreetly. Many of the characters are based on real people, but are given different names – the founder of the collective, Heather Booth, is now Virginia (Sigourney Weaver), the housewife who decides to have the procedure, and soon join the group, Jenny, is now Joy (Elizabeth Banks), and so on and so forth.
We follow Joy, who is married to her lawyer husband, Will (Chris Messina), with whom they have a teenage daughter, Charlotte (Grace Edwards). Due to a heart condition that leaves Joy a 50/50 chance of surviving the pregnancy, she makes the decision to terminate, which was not granted by the board – of all men – at the hospital. After trying but then leaving a sketchy building for an abortion, she comes across a sign telling concerned pregnant women to “call Jane.” She does so, and stumbles upon a surprisingly efficient operation run by a group of women – none of whom are actually Jane – who offer help to women in need, with the help of the doc named Dean (Cory Michael Smith).
After helping bring a new patient to the doc as a favor to Virginia, Joy decides to stick around, and help with the organization. We follow her journey as she goes from a timid housewife to someone who is more empathetic and open-minded. She initially says that this wasn’t something that “she supported,” despite already having gone to the group for the procedure. It’s a compelling, if a bit generic of a journey, and the character serves as a solid audience stand-in to get us familiar with the inner-workings of such an organization, which are some of my favorite parts of the film.
Overall, the film is perfectly good and solid, sticking to a tried and true formula. However, there are some points where the commitment to that formula hinders some of its storytelling. While most of the details in the plot are true, some decisions made by certain characters in the second half came across as rather baffling, many of which are off-screen developments. And given my appreciation of the film’s exploration of the logistics of the whole operation, I wish it expanded upon some things that are merely hinted at. Like, apparently the mob is involved somehow, and they get a cut of the money that the women pay, and also, among the women, there’s a nun…like, what’s her story? I really want to know!
I also want to point out the film’s biggest problem, which revolves around the character of Gwen (Wunmi Mosaku), Lois in real life. She’s the only Black character in the film, and she is very much treated as a token. Granted, in real life, Lois was one of the only women of color involved (couldn’t find any info as to whether she was the only one), but her presence here for the most part felt like a case of racially blind casting. She’s just one of the women, until one scene where she does call out the lack of internationality in their mission, calling out Virginia for something regarding the Panthers, an event we have zero info and context for. This would, in theory, be a refreshing way to approach these characters and the themes, but it is all restricted to this one scene. Gwen’s concerns regarding access for poor Black women are never mentioned again, and we don’t ever see any of those poor Black women getting the abortions at any point in any of the montages. And Gwen as a character gets even less to do after this big scene is over. In a way, the film is practically guilty of what she accused the group of being. Also, while the 16mm cinematography is fine for the most part, I don’t think there was any special consideration on lighting Mosaku’s skin because there were several points where she might as well been a dark void in a sea of clear white faces.
While the film’s hyper naturalistic approach was maybe too subdued for my taste, I feel like the French film, Happening, from not too long ago this year, was an overall better approach at telling a similar story. Call Jane is not bad, it is solid, it leans heavily on the Hollywood crowd-pleaser vibe, and I don’t think that’s an inherently bad thing. In fact, I’d say the hopefulness is worth putting out there considering how much abortion rights are being set back in the Untied States. I just think there was a better way of telling the story of the Jane Collective, one that’s more interesting and more challenging. There’s plenty to like here, especially in the performances. Elizabeth Banks is genuinely terrific here, and you really buy into every step of her character’s journey. Though far from perfect, it’s good that this story is out there, and people who might not have known much about this group have a chance to get a peek in history that sadly might come to repeat itself. The film is an alright stepping stone for those who may not be in the know, and it’s always important that we learn about the past, otherwise the future could be even bleaker.
Call Jane is now out in theaters.