An irresponsible, drug-addicted, recently impregnated woman (Laura Dern) finds herself in the middle of an abortion debate when both parties attempt to sway her to their respective sides.
Alexander Payne makes his directorial debut here. Notably, he would go on to be Oscar-nominated for "Nebraska", a film starring Bruce Dern (Laura's father). He would have other Oscar nominations for writing, but working with the elder Dern gave him that extra feather in his cap.
While the film's overt subject matter is abortion, Payne has insisted that the film is more prominently about the human side of fanaticism. Elaborating on this, Payne said, "People become fanatics for highly personal reasons. I mean, it's more about them and their own psychosis than about that cause." You can completely see this as the thrust of the film, as there is never any clear argument for or against abortion, and both sides pushed to their extreme with Ruth in the middle not giving a hoot.
Oh, and Burt Reynolds shows up.
Alexander Payne makes his directorial debut here. Notably, he would go on to be Oscar-nominated for "Nebraska", a film starring Bruce Dern (Laura's father). He would have other Oscar nominations for writing, but working with the elder Dern gave him that extra feather in his cap.
While the film's overt subject matter is abortion, Payne has insisted that the film is more prominently about the human side of fanaticism. Elaborating on this, Payne said, "People become fanatics for highly personal reasons. I mean, it's more about them and their own psychosis than about that cause." You can completely see this as the thrust of the film, as there is never any clear argument for or against abortion, and both sides pushed to their extreme with Ruth in the middle not giving a hoot.
Oh, and Burt Reynolds shows up.