Jane Wood Movies

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee Mike Leigh and set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town. However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding. Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Adapted from what is arguably Jane Austen's most mature and subtlest novel, Persuasion is somewhat more nuanced and restrained than the more frequently adapted Emma and Pride and Prejudice. The protagonist, Anne (Amanda Root), is, by the conventions of society, considered an old maid when she remains unmarried at 27. However, a second chance arrives when her former love, Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds), returns from the Napoleonic Wars. The pair, who hardly speak throughout, are surrounded by the usual assortment of family members, friends, acquaintances, and distant relations, many of them what pass for stock characters in Austen novels. There's the social-climbing parent, the dour upper aristocrat, the scatterbrained younger relatives, and, of course, the apparently suitable suitor who turns out to be all wrong. Of course, Austen's protagonists are never dumb, but Anne, being somewhat older, is also a good deal wiser, and the characters around her accordingly take on greater dimension and subtlety. Naturally, this being an Austen story, all ends well, but the path is somewhat less straightforward than in other films adapted from her work. ~ Genevieve Williams, Rovi

Eight British women sign up for a week-long survival course. They hope to counter their boredom with life by sweating through a regimen of cliff-climbing and rope-pulling in Britain's Lake district. In between, the ladies discuss their sex lives, with the best lines going to Julie Walters as she rambles on about her three years' abstention from sex. The other actress, who haven't scaled the same professional heights as Ms. Walters since 1984, include Jane Evers, Janet Henfrey, Paula Jacobs, Penelope Nice, Maureen O'Brien and Alyson Spiro. She'll Be Wearing Pink Pajamas was written, apparently from first-hand experience, by Eva Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Heavy with symbolism and light on storyline, this unbalanced tale of an unbalanced woman leaves a few open questions at the end. When Nelly (Eileen Atkins) is first encountered in a hotel, she does not remember her family or her friends and draws a blank when a detective arrives to connect her with a series of crimes. Eventually, Nelly goes back to her family and reprises a fairly boring, mundane existence -- are there any clues within this life that lead to the crimes she supposedly committed, or even lead to her amnesia? Maybe. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The debut film of director Harold Becker was this low-budget romance that won acclaim for its script by Alan Sillitoe. Simon Rouse stars as Tony Bradmore, a skilled thief who falls for Doris Randall (Victoria Tennant), the stunningly beautiful daughter of a wealthy rag dealer (Leslie Sands). Given Tony's choice of profession, their relationship does get an enthusiastic endorsement from all concerned. Although The Ragman's Daughter (1972) was given a cursory North American release two years after its completion, Becker's subsequent efforts such as The Onion Field (1979) and Taps (1981) would fare considerably better at the box office. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi