This movie is supposedly about abortion, pro or con. It shows the great lengths each side will go to to champion a cause. Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) gets caught in the middle of the feuding factions, and the story unfolds around attempts to persuade her to have or not have her problem fixed. The trouble is, the only fix Ruth is interested in is another huff of whatever thinner, model airplane glue, or spray paint is available. She’s a vandal, an addict, a thief, a liar, a moocher, a woman of loose morals, and a self-centered dimwit.

My question then: Why are we supposed to care what happens to her or her fifth conception, Baby Tanya? Apparently because we have more compassion than sense. The ending seems to condone her criminal behavior. Should we applaud it? Not good at all.

There’s much I liked about the film (such as Burt Reynolds small part), and Dern’s acting is quite good, but I think the producers and director Alexander Payne missed an opportunity to make this into a more important film. They failed to address the deeper problems of Ruth and the greater failures of society in dealing with our misfits. We, the audience, are the ones who are ultimately cheated. Worth watching? Just barely.

a comedy about abortion