Movie Review: 'After Tiller' -- 3.5 stars

After Tiller
3.5 stars
Documentary by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
Rated PG-13
Opens Friday at Film Forum and Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center

“After Tiller” follows the four remaining U.S. doctors who provide late-term abortions, after the 2009 assassination of their colleague, George Tiller, in a Kansas church.

Filmmakers Martha Shane and Lana Wilson take great pains to show the humanity of the men and women who persist in this work in the face of constant danger.
The film isn’t an apologia for the controversial practice or a political screed on behalf of the pro-choice movement. Of course, the subject is so loaded that it’s unlikely to be seen that way.

That’s a shame, because not only is “After Tiller” a three-dimensional depiction of what these doctors actually do — they’re emotional counselors as much as anything — it’s an in-the-trenches exploration of bravery.