*With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, cineplexes will be stuffed more than turkeys with blockbusters looking to take advantage of the holiday – from big new releases like “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Creed II” to leggy hits like “A Star Is Born” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.
However, it should be noted a small, independent film based on true events is entering it’s 7th weekend in theaters as well.
“Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer” is the story about a real-life monster, Kermit Gonsell (chillingly played by Earl Billings), a Philadelphia physician and abortion provider who was convicted in 2013 of first degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive, involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient undergoing an abortion procedure, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion and 211 counts of violating a 24-hour informed consent law. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Philadelphia wants to auction off the site of a former abortion clinic where imprisoned doctor Kermit Gosnell performed illegal late-term abortions. https://t.co/3tNIew1wZ4
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 25, 2018
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While, at first glance, “Gosnell” seems to be a bloated “Law and Order” episode, the script by Irish documentary filmmakers is based almost entirely on police reports and trial transcripts and portrays a man and crimes so outrageously epic they are worthy of the big screen.
Billings, in portraying Gosnell, turns in an Oscar-worthy performance. This is a man who plays the piano while police search his house and find “biological evidence”, a man who let cats run around his operating room, reused medical instruments and gloves on his female patients and jokes about one of the babies he delivers as “being big enough to walk to the bus stop”, before snipping its neck.
Billings does not overact in such moments, but by portraying the doctor as someone oblivious to his carnage and eventual consequences, makes him a character who will make your skin crawl.
Of course, in a movie like this, there are some politics involved. A judge does not want the case to damage the legal abortion industry. The failure to inspect Gosnell’s clinic, even after the death of Karnamaya Mongar, a refugee from Nepal who was over-anesthetized, is laid at the feet of then-Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge.
The police, led by Detective James Wood (a fine Dean Cain) and Assistant District Attorney Lexy McGuire (Sarah Jane Morris, who is okay) – who doesn’t even know some of the laws regarding abortion when the film starts – lead the charge against Gosnell, despite some trepidation by her boss, District Attorney Dan Molinari (Michael Beach).
New Book, The Trial of Kermit Gosnell, Describes Shocking Details About the Abortion Industry https://t.co/DkZc919jBL pic.twitter.com/EW1ppFTPFI
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) June 23, 2017
In the end, however, it is the story itself that is powerful. Perhaps overly so, for some.
This story was ignored by the media, the book was not reviewed by major outlets and the film has faced problems with funding, distribution and, even after a healthy $1.1 million on 673 screens it’s opening weekend, saw it’s screen count slashed instead of expanded and reports of some theaters actually blocking ticket sales. However, the film has now trudged to a $3.6 million domestic take.
But why would a topical, successful film face so many obstacles to success? It could be as simple as black and white.
The dirty secret of “Gosnell”, the case and the movie, is that the vast, vast majority of his patients were black. The women who were held down and forced to have abortions when they still had not made up their minds were mainly black. The majority of complications due to non-sterile instruments, infections and sloppy surgeries were mainly black. Almost all the babies delivered and then killed were black. The underage, inexperienced, unqualified nurses were almost all black.
So, at the core of “Gosnell” is the idea that the Powers That Be did not want to possibly inconvenience the “right to choose” for suburban white women as long as it was poor, minority women that were exposed to such a grotesque environment.
As one white character says – in a quote directly from the trial – about why she did not think twice about the deplorable conditions at Gosnell’s clinic as opposed to other clinics she had been to, “I just thought that was normal for an inner-city clinic.”
The spoken idea that a House of Horrors should be thought of as par for the course at clinics frequented by poor minority women is one of the most powerful moments in “Gosnell”.
There are many like it. Along with the powerful performances, it is reason enough to still see this film on the big screen while you can, if for no other reason to encourage other films to tackle important issues and cases in the future. Also, to see an Oscar-worthy performance by Billings.
Grade: A
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