If These Walls Could Talk

A triptych of half-hour films, set in the same house, in 1952, 1974 and 1996, with new occupants reflecting rather obviously the changing times. (Cher makes her directing debut in the third film.) The theme is abortion and the sometimes life-threatening responsibility faced by pregnant women: nurse Demi Moore widowed in the war and pregnant after a fling; harassed housewife/mature student Spacek; and student Anne Heche, who has no home and little income. The films suffer from dramatic compression (there's enough social context to service a soap opera series) and a didactic liberal tone, but they're fleshed out with strong performances and a keen sense of the women's dilemmas. Cher casts herself as a clinic doctor (in bulletproof vest) who literally takes her life in her hands in the fight against hysterical pro-life Christians.