Courtesy of Amazon Prime
Jean wants to have a baby but can’t. Her husband Eddie solves the problem by bringing one home in an unannounced, “Surprise, honey!” gesture that seems absurd but makes sense once I’m Your Woman gets underway. Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) approaches the child warily, looking the boy over with disconcerted eyes but warms subtly as he presses the boy to her bosom. It’s a masterful bit of acting from Brosnahan and directing by Julia Hart, who cowrote the story.
Jean knows that Eddie (Bill Heck) is a criminal, a convicted felon, but never imagined the extent of his wrongdoing until she’s awakened one night by furious door-banging. It’s one of Eddie’s cohort warning her to leave—fast: Get dressed, hold onto this duffel bag full of cash and there’s this guy named Cal (Arinze Kene) waiting outside. He’ll take care of you. Jean demands explanations but there are none. She’s hurled head-first into an odyssey that’s two-parts crime drama and one-part road picture.
I’m Your Woman averts several cliches from both genres as it switches lanes and swerves through many high-speed turns. Cal is courteous, stoic and unforthcoming. Early on, the big-boat sedans alert us that the story’s setting is circa 1970 and the period details that accumulate are about 95 percent right on. A mixed race couple like Jean and Cal traveling together with an infant was a brow-raiser back then. When a cop orders Cal out of the car while fingering his gun handle, he complies. Jean proves to be a quick-thinker, inventing a story to satisfy the suspicious lawman.
Among I’m Your Woman’s strengths is its women’s perspective on crime stories. Jean begins the film with no ambition but to fry the bacon her husband brings home. On the run, she finds strength and resourcefulness she never imagined possessing. Eventually, Jean is thrown in with Cal’s wife, Teri (Marsha Stephanie Blake). Secrets are revealed inside of secrets as the two women come to trust each other while sidestepping bullets. One good thing about 1970: when gunfire erupted, there was always a phone booth you could duck inside, hug the floor and wait.
I’m Your Woman is an engrossing movie, efficiently paced and suspenseful, a (female) character-driven story scaled just right for small screens. The Amazon Studios picture is in limited theatrical release and will debut on Prime Video on December 11.
