'Drake' breaks hearts, opens minds

"Vera Drake" ostensibly tells the story of a London woman who "helps out young girls" in the 1950s. (That translates to "back-alley abortions" for the euphemistically challenged.) But the true story, the one that sticks, is of a poor family struggling in post-war London. They work hard, they fall in love slowly and they always, no matter what, try to do the right thing. And Vera herself teaches us that whatever the matter, there's no problem so insurmountable that it can't be fixed with a nice cup of tea and a word of comfort. This is a quiet little movie, but it speaks loudly.\nVera Drake lives with her family in a small flat in London. Her husband is a mechanic and she cleans houses. Vera cares for her two children, her sickly neighbors and an invalid mother with a chirpily British constitution. In her scarce spare time, she "helps girls out" by inducing miscarriages. Naturally, she gets caught when one of the girls becomes ill. She steadfastly refuses to call what she does abortion, although the authorities disagree. She's tried and convicted, but I'm not ruining anything at all. As viewers, we know that's coming. But the process of her undoing is heartbreaking. \nWhile the movie glad-hands a highly polemic issue, it does it gently. This isn't an "issue movie." The girls Vera "helps out" desperately need her as they're faced with unbearable pregnancies in a society that has no place for their problems. A wealthy girl can "go away for the weekend," but what of the destitute mother who has already had seven children? Her husband doesn't know of the pregnancy, but she knows that another pregnancy may kill her, and even if it doesn't, she won't be able to feed the extra mouth. Although an intermediary demands money from these desperate girls, Vera herself wouldn't dream of accepting money for her services. She's helping. That's just what people do. It's all so simple that her collapse, and its effect on the family, is all the more painful.\nThe look of the movie itself is unremarkable, which is perhaps its greatest strength. It captures the dinginess of Vera's world, the working-class struggle that gives rise to her necessity. But in light of it all, Vera and her family maintain a sense of hope -- they even find a way to help people. \nUltimately, this movie is going to be remembered for the issues it tackles. It won't be a hit, but it's an important movie to see. We live in a complacent age where our views are inherited or undefined, and without preaching or force, "Vera Drake" makes that position impossible. The test of a good movie isn't one that makes its viewers think about something, but rather one that forces its viewers to rethink how they think about something. "Vera Drake" is one such movie.