A welcome throwback

Brosnahan draws viewers in as a woman on the run in taut '70s-set crime drama

Groovy to behold but a bit of a drag in its pacing, the '70s-set crime drama I'm Your Woman gets a lot of mileage out of its superior set design, even if it runs out of gas before its run is out.

Director and co-writer Julia Hart introduces us to Jean and Eddie, played by Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Bill Heck. She's a housewife and he's a criminal, who comes home one day with a bizarre bit of plunder, a baby boy. “He's ours,” he says simply. She accepts, and calls the child Harry.

A more disturbing mystery arises when Eddie fails to come home one night. In his place arrives Cal (Arinzé Kene), who is good with kids and also with a gun. He takes Jean and Harry to a nondescript suburban safe house, telling them to stay inside and talk to no one. As to who he is: “I'm how you and the baby stay safe.”

I'm Your Woman is full of these kinds of cryptic remarks, and Brosnahan does a great job of drawing us into the plight of a confused and vulnerable woman.

The screenplay slowly doles out more details about Eddie and Cal and even the baby, but this is a case where less would be more. Brosnahan's woman-on-the-run story is exciting enough without also having to digest a web of relationships.

There is still much to recommend I'm Your Woman, including a period-appropriate soundtrack that includes Aretha Franklin and Richie Havens.

And I'm a sucker for anything set in the age of giant cars and no cellphones. In one of her hideouts, Jean is given a teal land line telephone and a number: In case of emergency, she's to plug it in and dial. The movie makes the most of its time period. It's a throwback in all the best ways.