The nomination Vera Drake got for the leading actress which was very much deserved. Imelda Staunton was brilliant. And for the screenplay which was also very good. It's not a pro abortion movie in the way 'The Cider House Rules' was. The pro life side (law enforcement, the title character's family)is given as sympathetic a portrait here as you're likely to see in any movie these days. The title character is shown as a shallow dimwitted woman who doesn't consider the moral consequences of what she's doing at all.
Thanks for the thoughful critique. Maybe I will see it now. I guess this explains why the movie was an afterthought last night.