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Freeheld
- Director: Peter Sollett
- Writer: Ron Nyswaner
- Producer: Kelly Bush Novak
CGiii Comment
The feature from the Oscar-winning short...good source material.
So...what went wrong?
Freeheld is - above all - underwhelming...and, it - lamentably - under-performed at the box office.
Not many films have these kind of credentials...the inconquerable Julianne Moore, fresh from her Oscar win...Page, Carrell & Nyswaner - all Oscar nominees.
So...what went wrong?
Peter Sollett...wrong man for the job. And, it has got to be said, Nyswaner's box-ticking script did little to help.
As you start to watch Freeheld (as we did)...you would be forgiven in thinking that you are watching a long lost episode of Cagney & Lacey...yes, it has all the production values of a TV episode.
Ultimately, this is a story about love...there's a bit of pawing and fawning...but, nothing that could be construed as genuine chemistry between Moore and Page.
Moore does the best she can, Page is stompy and clunky...definitely the bull in the China-shop. Carrell's performance is...ridiculous - but, to be fair, his script guaranteed a botch-job.
Sollett's direction is devoid of...almost everything. It's not cinematic. There's neither artistry, depth or detail nor complexity.
Yes, you will shed a tear (unless you are a cold-hearted automaton [like Sollett])...
This is a film that should have/could have raised the roof...throughout, we should have been wailing with fury...by the end, we should have been drowning in tears.
This is not cinema...this is a TV movie. The production team botched this...good & proper!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
New Jersey car mechanic Stacie Andree and her police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester both battle to secure Hester's pension benefits after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Freeheld is the only film distributed by a major studio last year to be nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. The feature, starring out actress Ellen Page and Julianne Moore, is based on the 2007 documentary of the same name about New Jersey police Lieutenant Laurel Hester, who fought for her pension benefits to be extended to her partner, Stacie Andree, after Laurel learned she was dying of cancer. Steve Carrell co-stars as Garden State Equality founder Steven Goldstein, who helps rally press around Laurel’s fight, and Luke Grimes is her closeted co-worker Todd. While there are several characters’ stories unfolding at once, Laurel and Stacie remain at the center, as Moore and Page bring such heart to their characters. Freeheld was one of the year’s LGBT film highlights.
No mention that it was panned by the critics, under-achieved at the box office and was a shoddy adaptation of its source material...a well-deserved Oscar-winning short.
More of a lowlight than anything else...
GLAAD you need to remember...just because its LGBT doesn't mean that it's any good! Take those blinkers off!
Cast & Characters
Julianne Moore as Laurel Hester;
Ellen Page as Stacie Andree;
Zach Galifianakis;
Steve Carell as Steven Goldstein;
Michael Shannon as Dane Wells;
Luke Grimes as Todd Belkin;
Josh Charles as Bryan Kelder;
Mary Birdsong as Carol Andree;
Dennis Boutsikaris as Pat Gerry;
Skipp Sudduth as Reynolds;
Tom McGowan as Bill Johnson