There were some really good TV-movies made in the '70s, featuring some topnotch actors. I actually enjoy watching even the mediocre ones. The Emmy win for Cloris Leachman (one of those aforementioned very good actors) in this role had me expecting this movie to be better than it was.
I can't help holding it to the standard of another '70s TV-movie about middle-aged pregnancy, And Baby Makes Six. The plot lines differ, although, oddly, Mildred Dunnock plays the mother of the pregnant women in both and both films try to make a statement about Women's Lib, but in different ways. And Baby Makes Six was a lot richer than A Brand New Life, plus it had humor. The characters were more developed and Colleen Dewhurst just makes you love her. As talented as Leachman is, her Victoria wasn't as real as Dewhurst's Anna.
When Victoria finds out she's pregnant (unintentionally) for the first time at 40, her husband Jim is immediately thrilled, while she has serious doubts. She doesn't want to give up her dream job and is satisfied with their life the way it is, although they had tried to get pregnant earlier in their marriage. Plus, she thinks she's too old to be having her first child.
Her closest friend is a self-admitted bad mother, who has a poor relationship with her boarding school teenager, and tries to convince Vicky that motherhood is not for her. I guess this was a Women's Lib attempt to illustrate that not every woman is cut out for motherhood and they shouldn't be judged for not wanting kids. But what friend would say this stuff to a confused and emotionally fragile gal pal in this kind of situation?
The most painfully awkward scene to watch involves Vicky seeking her mother's advice on what to do. Her mother basically informs her that she and Vicky's father never intended to have any children and had tried unsuccessfully to obtain an abortion when she got pregnant with her. She advises Vicky to get an abortion, as her marriage was never quite the same again after having Vicky. Vicky is obviously very hurt by this information, even though her mother tells her that she loves her. What kind of mother tells her kid, even a grown-up one, that she wanted an abortion?
It's plain from the cover of the DVD what decision is ultimately made (surprise, surprise). Along the way, Vicky deals with her job, her demanding but compassionate boss and meets Sarah, a young, unmarried pregnant woman who inspires her. Jim brings home a pile of parenting books, convinces Vicky she's not like her mother and they decide to have the baby.
Suddenly, after Vicky is committed to the idea of parenthood, formerly gung-ho Jim goes all negative on her. Attending a natural childbirth class and having to move out of their adults-only building spooks him. A brief pep talk from her is all it takes to get him back on board. Please. All this agonizing back and forth over the big decision and they cheapen it with that little segue.
By this point, the movie is less than 15 minutes from being over and you feel like you still don't really know these people or even as though you're invested in the outcome of their story. The rest feels like it was hastily slapped together to wrap things up quickly because they ran out of time.
Cloris Leachman is cute as Vicky, and mostly sympathetic. Martin Balsam as Jim is a bit overbearing and I would've rather seen an actor in the role who didn't look 15 years older than Leachman (who looked younger than she was at the time). Marge Redmond as Vicky's pal Eleanor is over-the-top obnoxious. Mildred Dunnock in the mother role is just embarrassing. Her mother character in And Baby Makes Six managed to be both very flawed and amusingly likable in minimal screen time. That didn't happen here. Karen Philipp is appropriately hippie-like in playing Sarah.
Seriously, I'm mystified as to how Leachman won an Emmy for this role while Colleen Dewhurst couldn't even snag a nomination for And Baby Makes Six. We're talking a lion vs. a lamb here.
I can't help holding it to the standard of another '70s TV-movie about middle-aged pregnancy, And Baby Makes Six. The plot lines differ, although, oddly, Mildred Dunnock plays the mother of the pregnant women in both and both films try to make a statement about Women's Lib, but in different ways. And Baby Makes Six was a lot richer than A Brand New Life, plus it had humor. The characters were more developed and Colleen Dewhurst just makes you love her. As talented as Leachman is, her Victoria wasn't as real as Dewhurst's Anna.
When Victoria finds out she's pregnant (unintentionally) for the first time at 40, her husband Jim is immediately thrilled, while she has serious doubts. She doesn't want to give up her dream job and is satisfied with their life the way it is, although they had tried to get pregnant earlier in their marriage. Plus, she thinks she's too old to be having her first child.
Her closest friend is a self-admitted bad mother, who has a poor relationship with her boarding school teenager, and tries to convince Vicky that motherhood is not for her. I guess this was a Women's Lib attempt to illustrate that not every woman is cut out for motherhood and they shouldn't be judged for not wanting kids. But what friend would say this stuff to a confused and emotionally fragile gal pal in this kind of situation?
The most painfully awkward scene to watch involves Vicky seeking her mother's advice on what to do. Her mother basically informs her that she and Vicky's father never intended to have any children and had tried unsuccessfully to obtain an abortion when she got pregnant with her. She advises Vicky to get an abortion, as her marriage was never quite the same again after having Vicky. Vicky is obviously very hurt by this information, even though her mother tells her that she loves her. What kind of mother tells her kid, even a grown-up one, that she wanted an abortion?
It's plain from the cover of the DVD what decision is ultimately made (surprise, surprise). Along the way, Vicky deals with her job, her demanding but compassionate boss and meets Sarah, a young, unmarried pregnant woman who inspires her. Jim brings home a pile of parenting books, convinces Vicky she's not like her mother and they decide to have the baby.
Suddenly, after Vicky is committed to the idea of parenthood, formerly gung-ho Jim goes all negative on her. Attending a natural childbirth class and having to move out of their adults-only building spooks him. A brief pep talk from her is all it takes to get him back on board. Please. All this agonizing back and forth over the big decision and they cheapen it with that little segue.
By this point, the movie is less than 15 minutes from being over and you feel like you still don't really know these people or even as though you're invested in the outcome of their story. The rest feels like it was hastily slapped together to wrap things up quickly because they ran out of time.
Cloris Leachman is cute as Vicky, and mostly sympathetic. Martin Balsam as Jim is a bit overbearing and I would've rather seen an actor in the role who didn't look 15 years older than Leachman (who looked younger than she was at the time). Marge Redmond as Vicky's pal Eleanor is over-the-top obnoxious. Mildred Dunnock in the mother role is just embarrassing. Her mother character in And Baby Makes Six managed to be both very flawed and amusingly likable in minimal screen time. That didn't happen here. Karen Philipp is appropriately hippie-like in playing Sarah.
Seriously, I'm mystified as to how Leachman won an Emmy for this role while Colleen Dewhurst couldn't even snag a nomination for And Baby Makes Six. We're talking a lion vs. a lamb here.