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What a lovely evening.  I walked into the Music Box Theatre, ordered a medium coffee, sat in my seat, dog-eared a page in Jean-Dominique Bauby's The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, and looked up at the blank screen where a theatre employee was off to the side of it manually adjusting the masking.  I had been very eager to watch Cristian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" for quite some time; it won the Palme D'or at last May's Cannes Film Festival, and that's a big deal.  Past winners of the prize include Gus Van Sant for "Elephant" and Quentin Tarantino for "Pulp Fiction."

The opportunity to see it months ago presented itself at the Chicago Film Festival, but I was met with the demise of a singular sold-out show.  It wasn't my time.

Watching the film, I was thinking a lot about Alfonso Cuaron's masterful "Children Of Men" and the long takes during several scenes.  "Children" dazzled with some awesomely choreographed stunts, explosions and chaotic orchestration.  It was both eye and mind candy.  I can't say "4 Months" is much for eye candy--it's mostly covered in gray, and bleak pallets, though the questions on the topic of abortion and the idea of personal rights comes into naked observation, offering enough sugar for the brain.

Ebert, in his review of the film, made note that the Gabita character (who needs the immediate abortion) is a painful individual who lacks the resources, and often common courtesy toward her best friend and her general state of affairs to win us over: "We wonder how she has survived to her current 20-ish age in a society that obviously requires boldness, courage and improvisation."

Similarly, I felt no pity for Gabita.  Yes, she wants an abortion, but she is so absent-minded, and sometimes annoying, that I just became angrier with her.  She should have forced her guy to slap on a rubber or something. 

Our hearts and our hopes lie with her wonderfully-dedicated friend and study buddy Otilia.  An entire feature could probably be made on the trials and tribulations of her lower-class upbringing, her studies in school and her awkwardly-placed romance with boyfriend Adi.  She has more bite than say, you're hamburger-phone-wielding onscreen vixen.

And thankfully, due to her selfless performance, and involving subplot (she could very well be jailed for assisting with the abortion), the movie finds both its anchor and true calling.  Otilia may not be the one going through abortion, but her fears, worries and surprising choices are both understood and rooted for by the audience.  Well, rooting may be pushing it.

This is abortion we're dealing with.  It's a hot topic issue, I know.  I suppose, I would urge you to watch it; the outcome may not make you feel warm inside, but if you found yourself attracted and engrossed by the moral questions posed at the end of "Gone Baby Gone," you might find yourself agreeing that Gabita would probably not be the best role model.  Or mother.