Bronwen and I both liked this painful yet straightforward story of Vera Drake, a straightforward working-class woman of 1950 who, for 20 years, ‘helped girls out’ of a pregnancy out of an understanding that they did not want to have a child, or with married women, more children. It’s not hard to get, but it is hard to watch, because the performances are so good. Quit the paradox. We see her home life go from happy and rich emotionally to shattered after an arrest. Directed with his usual skill by Mike Leigh, this one is textured and rich. The class content is powerful but never overly bombastic. The characters, including the male doctors and police officers, are not cardboard cutouts. A few things are silly (the band of three musicians that sound like the Dorsey Brothers big band) but otherwise, this is one worth watching. Fantastic performances by Imelda Staunton as Vera, Richard Graham as her husband George who stands by her, Eddie Marsan as the lonely poor neighbor, Reg, who comes to fall for and eventually marry Alex Kelly, the awkward daughter Ethel. The contrast with the situation of the wealthy girl who, pregnant after a rape, goes for an abortion as well, is remarkably well done. It’s interesting to see that Leigh’s father was a surgeon and his mother was a midwife. The film is dedicated to them in the final frame of the credits. A fine, fine film but disturbing and emotionally painful. We went off straight away and wrote out a check to NARAL. We hope you will too. No additional features on the DVD