Vera Drake (2004)

Who'd have expected a film about such a controversial topic to be so dull? It reports the facts but never really gives us much insight into the character of Vera. She doesn't speak for herself, very few people speak about her... All we see is a woman who is broken by having to go to prison. I felt the strongest character was that of her son, who we actually got to see dealing with the issue. Everything else is solemn reporting. If a movie is going to try and use its grimness to move me, it must also use its characters, or else it's just an unpleasant news story. 2 stars.