Name: A Case for Life
Genre: Drama
Released: 1996-02-18
Duration: 1 h 40 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Valerie Bertinelli, Gregg Almquist, Vincent Berry

Mel Harris is Liz Hammett, a pro-choice Los Angeles lawyer who sues her sister Kelly Porter (Valerie Bertinelli) so that she will follow the instructions of her doctor. Kelly is pregnant and suffering from a paracardial constriction that puts her life and that of her foetus at risk, but as a pro-lifer she refuses her doctor's recommendation of a therapeutic abortion to save her life. 

Although Bertinelli is direct and simple, she spends most of her time bed-ridden, and she doesn't have Harris' Garbo-esque grandeur. Liz is dressed in a lot of black, and Harris looks particularly sensual in a floor-length low cut negligee for a drunk scene, and with a grey raincoat in another scene and nod to Garbo. For the trial, Harris is given a 60-ish beehive hairdo and she is presented unflatteringly in sunlight, but otherwise her shoulder length brown-streaked black hair is loose. She is funny in her anger at her `brain dead' family who are all pro-life except for her, and in retort to Kelly's husband Bob (Brian McNamara) who tells her she is on different plane to them when she replies `Yeah. Earth'.

The teleplay by Vickie Patik plays Liz off Kelly, with Kelly presented as an earth mother pregnant with her 5th child, and Liz chided for having had an abortion and accused of having no maternal instinct, which is patently not true when we see Liz babysitting and the way she contends with the tantrums of Kelly's children. Liz' legal stance is that Kelly's position deprives the rights of her living children, with Kelly's lawyer uses the pro-choice Roe vs Wade argument which ironically Kelly does not believe in. Patik doesn't submit to melodrama though `Natural childbirth is like playing Russian Roulette and this little bullet is gonna kill her' is regrettable. Director Eric Laneuville uses some subjective camera, and silence in an emergency room, and pro-life demonstrators co-ercing a woman who attempts to enter an abortion clinic seen to be more hostile than God-loving helpful.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

To save her unborn child, she had to fight for the right to die. A True Story

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Valerie Bertinelli and Harry Hamlin in Night Sins (1997)

Nicholle Tom and Gary Cole in For My Daughter's Honor (1996)

Valerie Bertinelli, Colleen Flynn, and Adam Rehmann in Two Mothers for Zachary (1996)

Valerie Bertinelli and David Morse in Shattered Vows (1984)

A Case for Life

Photos

Top Cast45

User reviews5

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed