Choices

Perhaps the most interesting aspect about the television movie Choices is that everyone in the cast is playing against-type, and they're all wonderful. George C. Scott plays a man who thinks he's the head of his family, but really no one listens to him. It's a far cry from Patton, isn't it? Jacqueline Bisset has beauty and class, but in this role she's open and emotional. She has a couple of crying scenes that feel very realistic, and she really helps the story along. Melissa Gilbert is unrecognizable from her Little House on the Prairie days, as a fully 1980s-teenager, decked out in jean jackets, permed hair, and backless clubbing dresses. She's also faced with the most difficult decision of any teen's life: what to do about her accidental pregnancy.

No doubt, because of the subject matter, this tv movie was completely ignored at the awards season, but I highly recommend it. I loved the twists and turns of the story, and the acting was top-notch. Everyone's different arguments were laid out lucidly and without bias. It's rare, but this movie didn't take sides. It let you listen to each character and form your own opinion. This movie won't be for everyone, but if you're open to a realistic discussion about abortion, you'll find it very interesting.

This movie was actually made-for-TV; the cast is stellar. Scott and Jacqueline Bissett make a compelling couple, and TV-star Melissa Gilbert ("Little House on the Prairie") hits all the right notes as a strong-willed, insecure college student coming home on Christmas break who discovers she's pregnant by her less-than-committed boyfriend. (No spoiler here; it's on the DVD cover blurb.) This film captures the anger and frustration of both sides of the abortion debate, which had become very ugly by the mid-80's. In particular, the script being written by a woman was a first for this kind of drama, and the lead actors do a fine job of conveying the confusion and heartbreak that so many women were grappling with during that period -- and still are today.

Melissa Gilbert is convincingly cast as a haughty rich kid in New York City, the daughter of a recently-retired judge who has married for the second time, who is busy failing her courses at college and fighting with her boyfriend over commitment issues when she discovers she's five weeks pregnant. Actually, we find out before she does: in the movie's first few minutes, Gilbert is alternately eating and throwing up at her father's fancy get-together (alert! Plot predicament ahead!). She doesn't want to tell Dad her secret--who doesn't buy into the whole abortion argument--though she does confide in her 38-year-old stepmother, a supporter of a woman's right to choose (and who soon finds she's expecting as well!). Tacky TV-movie from director David Lowell Rich is full of gaffes and poor editing decisions, not to mention talented actors George C. Scott and Jacqueline Bisset looking uncomfortable in their roles. As for our heroine, Gilbert takes a waitressing job at the "American Rock Cafe"--featuring Beatles dolls in the lobby--simply as an excuse to pad the movie with teenagers and blaring music (and, later, shots of Gilbert gettin' down on the dance floor). Later, we see her go back to a boy's apartment and fall seductively on his bed (alert! She's asking for more trouble!) before suddenly gaining a conscience and leaving. No one in the film seems very smart in their arguments, and the sidesteps writer Judith Parker takes in trying to explain how two modern women can get unexpectedly pregnant in this era of birth control is idiotic. "Choices" wants to explore all sides of a controversial topic; however, by using unappealing people as voice boxes, it never gets out of the gate. *1/2 from ****

This is one of those movies that tries to be provocative. - here the issue is abortion. Don't bother.

Especially for a TV movie, I found this very well acted. Jacqueline Bisset is very convincing - I found her character quite complex. Poised yet sympathetic. A moving story.