Unplanned

Unplanned

Starring Ashley Bratcher, Brooks Ryan, Robia Scott, Jared Lotz

Directed by Chuck Konzelman & Cary Solomon

The Story:
Abby Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) grew up in a very conservative home, whose parents were pro-life believers, so when Abby goes to college and volunteers at Planned Parenthood, she obviously doesn't tell her family.  She was told that the corporation helps women in all areas, and not just abortion, and according to director Cheryl (Robia Scott) desires to reduce the amount of abortions with their help.

After a failed marriage and two abortions herself, Abby marries Doug (Brooks Ryan), and becomes pregnant again, but she chooses to keep the baby, to Cheryl's dismay.  All the while Abby rises the ranks at Planned Parenthood, and is eventually offered the director job by Cheryl, to which she accepts.  As all this unfolds, protestors outside the clinic keep up their demonstrations, led by 40 Days for Life founder Shawn (Jared Lotz) and his wife Marilisa (Emma Elle Roberts), who Abby befriends.

When Abby is called upon to assist an abortion, she realizes the damage it really causes, which leads her to leave Planned Parenthood and become an advocate for pro-life rights, resulting in Cheryl and Planned Parenthood coming after her legally - but as long as she has God and her family on her side, Abby stands defiant and refuses to back down.

The Synopsis:
Pure Flix is a Christian organization best known for producing the (somewhat) hit film "God's Not Dead," as well as a slew of other faith-based films geared almost exclusively to their followers.  As a Christian myself, I personally find the majority of these films almost unwatchable, if not laughable, due to made-for-TV production values, insipid performances, and generic characterizations, but until now they've been relatively harmless.  With "Unplanned," they decided to break into the world of political advocacy, providing a totally biased look at Planned Parenthood and the issue of abortion through their faith-based eyes, making everyone else feel like they're wrong, especially the women who have gone through the procedure.

The film is based on the memoir of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director who deduces it's evil after witnessing an abortion firsthand, and becomes an advocate for the pro-life agenda.  We see the world through her biased eyes, as she portrays Planned Parenthood as the epitome of evil, led by the steely, ruthless, emotionless Cruella de Ville-like Cheryl, played by Robia Scott.  Planned Parenthood is portrayed as a wolf in sheep's clothing, who on the outside advertises a place for women to come for aid, but instead serve to merely kill as many unborn babies as possible to keep up with their bottom line.  After Abby confronts Cheryl, she actually compares Planned Parenthood to a fast-food chain, where they break even on hamburgers (or in PP's case, women's advocacy) but their low-cost, high-margin items are French fries and soda (or in PP's case, abortions).  Later, as if to undermine the bias the film produces, Cheryl tells Abby that there's no use fighting them because they have all the lawmakers, the news media, Soros and Gates in their pocket, which leads to a David-vs-Goliath standoff between the two, and since this is a faith-based film, you can guess who comes out on top, and who looks to be the ultimate villain.

If you've been to a Planned Parenthood, you've probably seen the protestors standing outside their gates chanting angry slurs and declaring the women will burn in hell for their choice, but this film doesn't depict those protestors in such a negative light (although there is one lone man who's the voice for the majority of protestors in real life).  Instead the protestors are led by quiet, mild-mannered married couple Shawn and Marilisa, two young adults who look as wholesome as apple pie and gosh darn it just want to do what's right.  They're the ones Abby turns to once she realizes the error of her ways, and you can see the sense of smug satisfaction on Shawn's face when she comes to him crying and pleading how wrong she was. Basically, the whole movie involves caricatures of what the most unobservant Wikipedia reader would see, and blown up on the big screen to advocate their side of the story - which they believe to be the right side.

To their end, "Unplanned" doesn't pretend to really focus (or even care) about the Planned Parenthood side, but instead sets out to discredit it entirely, posing the film is the most darkest light imaginable - which earned the film a surprising "R" rating, the first for Pure Flix.  They hold that it was given unfairly, but after watching the film I can say it truly earned that rating - not for the sex or language, but the violence depicted.  The abortion scene was purposefully difficult to watch, extremely violent, and involving a lot of blood and discarded tissue, and there's other scenes where blood flows like the elevator scene in "The Shining."  They got their point across, but in doing so alienated the demographic they wanted to reach - young girls who are struggling with their decisions, and all they've done is complain about a vast left-wing conspiracy that earned the film a "R" rating.

When it comes to the acting, as I said earlier, they drew on their caricatures.  Ashley Bratcher plays Abby with doe-eyed innocence, a woman who was supremely prolific in convincing girls to get abortions, and someone who wrestled with the guilt of it afterward to the point of near over-exaggeration.  Brooks Ryan plays her dutiful husband who isn't given anything to do except talk about how her job is wrong.  Robia Scott is evil personified as the Planned Parenthood director Cheryl, who maintains a cold, heartless demeanor from start to finish.  Jared Lotz and Emma Elle Roberts play the most wholesome couple ever who feel abortion is wrong but won't judge the women from getting them (although their actions somewhat prove otherwise), and everyone else serves as daytime workers who were probably rejected from soap opera gigs because they were just too bland.

Is abortion right or wrong?  It's not for me to decide, and I wouldn't classify myself as either entirely pro-life or entirely pro-choice, but any organization that tries to eradicate one side or the other I think is wrong, and wrong motives can be found on both sides of that fence.  I would never judge someone for getting an abortion, or not getting an abortion, and I feel empathy for anyone who feels badly about the decisions they made in their life - if only many other Christians felt the same way, maybe some good would come out of things like this.  However, as long as they maintain their strong political right-wing thinking, they'll continually be viewed as the enemy, as they view Planned Parenthood as their own enemy, and no resolution will ever come to pass - only casualties on both sides.

The Summary:
Unapologetically showcasing only their side of the debate, "Unplanned" serves as another film that just continues to deepen the divide between pro-choice and pro-life, and only serves to either heighten their believers, or anger their dissenters, with no common ground in-between.

The Score: C-