If These Walls Could Talk (1996)
Facts
About If These Walls Could Talk
Virtually no one is ambivalent about abortion; the issue polarizes people like no other. HBO tackles the subject head-on with a trilogy of shorts, and, regardless of your opinion on the topic,
If These Walls Could Talk is a bold and provocative examination of how the laws and attitudes about abortion in the United States have both changed drastically and remained so much the same.
Three women, three time periods, one house: each finds herself in trouble and must face the overwhelming decision about what to do with the unwanted pregnancy. The first segment is the most powerful, featuring Demi Moore as a young, recently widowed nurse in 1952. With no one to turn to and limited financial means, her options are few. Catherine Keener costars as her harshly judgmental sister-in-law. The next piece occurs in 1974, as Sissy Spacek, a mother of four who is trying to earn a college degree, discovers she's pregnant with her fifth child. Her utterly modern feminist daughter encourages Spacek to get a newly legal abortion, but it's a complex decision. In the final segment, college student Anne Heche becomes pregnant by her married professor. Her best friend, played by Jada Pinkett, is resolutely against abortion and the two wrangle over right and wrong. As the young woman tries to learn about her options, she finds herself enmeshed in the pro-life demonstrations outside the abortion clinic. Cher, who directs this segment (the other two are directed by Nancy Savoca), costars as a doctor at the clinic.
While trying to be evenhanded and demonstrating the different choices different women make, the film does have a decidedly pro-choice leaning. Yet the power of the movie is undeniable and it raises significant questions on both sides of the abortion debate, making it an important film for women (and men) everywhere to watch and talk about. --Jenny Brown Amazon.com
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User Reviews
Average user review: 
(51 reviews)
The movie came in excellent condition, the shipping was good time, and the movie itself was pretty good.
August 28, 2008We can never put women in this situation again. These freaks are out harassing people who are choosing to have a legal surgery. They say they are Christians and harass and kill those who are pro choice....when did Jesus say that was ok? Hypocrites!
October 27, 2007 |  | Excellent, well planned and educational |  |
The movie is about 3 women, all in differnt periods of time in the US that are faced with an unwanted pregnancy. All make different choices. Demi Moore portrays a women in the forties who undergoes a back alley abortion, the next women is in the 70's when abortion was made legal. She is married and thought she was through having children until faced with an unintended pregnancy. The third women is a modern day college student who had an affair with her married professor. She faces the carzy pro-life protesters. Cher plays an abortion doctor. The ending is shocking.
The movie is extremly accurate, there was definetly research and thought put into it. When Cher is performing the abortion on girl number 3, all the medical instruments that are used in real abortions are layed out. This is a very intense movie, not something that you would watch on a Saturday night with the kids, but more of an educational movie that you would want to have a discussion about after. I would reccomend it for high schools/colleges to get a glimpse of how abortion, and womens rights have evolved.
This movie definetly wieghs on the pro-choice side, but also shows that pro-choice is also not pro-abortion.
October 23, 2007 |  | Well Done, Could Not Have Benn Made Better, Excellent |  |
Not just having such profound stars, in this film they were stunning. I know it's about the house, and the people connected to the house,....it told unbelievable stories, are are easily connected to the times of today. Worth watching over and over again, one catches so many different times, each time you watch it.
August 12, 2007I have not watched this movie as of yet. But, I can't wait to watch it.
March 22, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...