Bill Gibron is a veteran film critic from Tampa, Florida.Abortion. The term alone stirs passion on either side of the ongoing debate. It's a concept without any clear middle ground. So when a film like October Baby promises a faith-based approach to its decidedly pro-life plotline, mainstream appreciation seems like a long shot. After all, in between the preaching and polemics, one has to find an actual film. Well, luckily, filmmakers Andrew and Jon Erwin discover something secular within their otherwise Christian clamoring. When the story focuses on its lead, we get lost in the emotion. When it moves into the philosophical, it stumbles...severely. All her life, Hannah (Rachel Hendrix) has had health issues. At 19, and about to make her acting debut in a college theatrical production, she collapses. After this latest scare, her parents (John Schneider and Jennifer Price) finally reveal the painful truth - Hannah is adopted. Even more shocking, she was the product of a failed late term abortion. Stunned by the news, she decides to seek out her birth mother. With the help of her longtime friend Jason (Jason Burkley) and his cousin B-Mac's (Chris Sligh) beat up VW van, Hannah plans on traveling to Alabama. Once there, she hopes to find out what happened. There is a moment in October Sky that all creators of Bible-thumping narratives should pay attention to - even the aforementioned Erwins. After breaking into the hospital where she was born, Hannah is arrested. Luckily, the police officer involved knows about her story - and the nurse who was there when the failed abortion happened. Essayed by Jasmine Guy (yes, THAT Jasmine Guy) in a performance so powerful it threatens to undermine everything around it, we learn the graphic details of that day...and it's heartbreaking. It's the right message measured out via the right means. Instead of taking the WWJD pronouncements and beating us over the head with them, Guy goes for the truth and takes us there, teary eyed.
Indeed, the biggest problem with most faith-based entertainment is the overemphasis on God and the lack of legitimate narrative connections. We understand the importance of religion in modern society and see who it could easily be applied to current and classic cultural issues. Abortion may not play fair as a position (it's impossible to be "on the fence" over the topic) but if handled like the scene with Nurse Mary, anything is viable. Sadly, the rest of October Baby is a sermon without sentiment. It's forced humor and relatively uninvolving characters. Hannah is inherently interesting because we want to uncover all her secrets. But at the end, after a less than meaningful reunion with her biological parent, we find ourselves underwhelmed.
That's because most agenda motivated moviemakers don't play to the audience. They just berate them. They want us to understand how horrible abortion is (and after Guy's gruesome description of what happened to Hannah, we sympathize) and how belief can benefit when it comes to such moral dilemmas. And while we don't expect October Baby to argue both sides, it would be nice to feel some compassion for our heroine's real mother. Instead, she ends up cruel and callous, her profession (lawyer) predicting how she will come across once confronted. Add in a last minute conversation with a Catholic priest and a far too pat wrap-up and you've got Christianity as a cure-all.
Had they been more subtle in their strategy, had they made a movie first and a statement second, the Erwins could have won over a few converts. With October Baby, all they do is lecture to those eager to hear what they have to say. The rest of the moviegoing public will just tire and then tune out.
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