Vera Drake

I watched this film last night and really enjoyed it. It is not a fast paced drama but is more character led. The director (Mike Leigh) gives us time to get to know the family and their friends. A lot of the sayings remind me very much of my grandmother and her generation. The film is set in London in 1950, and Vera, as well as caring for her family, elderly mother and sick neighbours, has a number of cleaning jobs. On Fridays she helps 'girls who have got themselves into trouble'.

We get to meet some of these girls briefly and see Vera (Imelda Staunton) at work.

Off course, abortion was illegal at this time, and we see the impact on Vera and her family when this comes out.

The film deals with potentially controversial issue of abortion sensitively, and is very well acted and directed. My only criticism is that sometimes they milked out the more emotional scenes more than I thought necessary.

I would highly recommend this film if you like character-led dramas, if you are more of an action drama person then this film is not for you.

8/10