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Freeheld
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Lions Gate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (21st February 2016). |
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The Film
 Detective Laurel Hester (Map to the Stars' Julianne Moore) has served the city of Ocean County, New Jersey for twenty-three years in the closet, her sexuality – superseding her gender in the deficit department when it comes to her male-dominated job – even a secret from her "straight, white, anglo-Saxon, ex-protestant, atheist" partner Dane Wells (Bug's Michael Shannon). So desperate to keep her private and professional lives separate, Laurel travels several towns over, a practice she also discovers is shared by closeted freshman detective Belkin (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane's Luke Grimes) when he pulls her aside to beg her discretion. On one of these trips, Laurel makes the acquaintance of Tomboyish mechanic Stacie (Juno's Ellen Page) who thinks nothing of the substantial age gap, and their first date turns into a sleepover after a run-in with some homophobes. In spite of Laurel's controlling nature and continued dodging around introducing Stacie to her friends, co-workers, and family, their relationship blossoms over a year's time and they decide to file for domestic partnership – per the state law enacted in 2004 – and move into a fixer-upper. Their happiness is soon cut short, however, when Laurel goes into the hospital for a pulled muscle only to be diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Stacie remains optimistic despite the ten-percent survival rate, and Laurel undergoes treatment but remains pragmatic about her chances. When Dane – who, upon finding out that Laurel is a lesbian, is hurt because he thought that as partners they shared everything – seems unsupportive about her request to make sure Stacie gets her pension ("But that's for married people, right?") so that she might hold onto their home, Laurel instead submits a written request to the Freeholders (New Jersey's system of county legislators). Although the elder members – Dan Wickery (The Aviator's Kevin O'Rourke), William Johnson (The Birdcage's Tom McGowan), Peter Santucci (The Green Mile's William Sadler), and Pat Gerrity (W.'s Dennis Boutsikaris) – reject the request because the domestic partnership law extends benefits to same sex partners of state employees, new member Bryan Kelder (Threesome's Josh Charles) points out that the counties have the discretion to assign benefits. While Wickery, Santucci, and Gerrity advise Kelter that it would be political suicide to do so in a county with a conservative base, Johnson is the only one who comes out and says that the law "offends traditional values," and they pressure Kelter to a unanimous vote to reject Laurel's request. Upon finding this out, Dane suggests to Laurel would have more of a chance if she request in person at the biweekly public meeting of the Freeholders since he reckons that they are afraid of controversy. In spite of her impassioned speech, the Freeholders once again reject her request, but local reporter Don Bennett (Hitch's Adam LeFevre) turns Dane's words of outrage into a front page story that soon attracts the attention of Garden State Equality activist Steven Goldstein (The Office's Steve Carell). Self-described "big, loud, gay Jew" Goldstein advocates a show of force at the next meeting, rallying the town's gay population to shame the council into granting Laurel's request. While Dane is concerned that such "political theater" will alienate the constituency and turn them against Laurel, Laurel is concerned that Goldstein is using her to push gay marriage rather than just the equality she is seeking. Stacie, on the other hand, is more concerned about the strain on Laurel's health in what little time they have left; but she comes to realize not only does their home embody their shared dreams but Laurel's own moral sense of justice is at stake.  Based on a true story, Peter Sollett's (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) Freeheld takes some dramatic license for effect but sticks very close out of respect to Hester's loved ones as much as the easy access for viewers to filmed documentation of many of the depicted events in Cynthia Wade's Academy Award-winning 2007 documentary of the same name. Much of the homophobia the characters face is institutionalized with the exception of threats from two shadowy, indistinct groups of characters, but the film sticks close to its protagonists who must have felt that the indifference was more frustrating and seemingly insurmountable; indeed, all of the sound and fury of the Garden State Equality crowd and the impassioned pleas of Laurel, Stacie, and Dane seem to have had less effect on the vote than the Freeholders' fear of more bad press and the threat of exposure when it came to the multiple pensions too which they felt they were entitled. The legacy of Hester's story – which humanized the struggle for equal rights – was the Supreme Court voting for legalizing civil unions shortly after her death and to an extent last year's legalization of same-sex marriage. Moore - whose feathered hairstyle seems as outdated in the early 2000's as the mechanical, manual 35mm SLR she uses on surveillance but actually is an approximation of Hester's look in photographs from the time - and Page are touching but it seems as though Shannon has much of the more subtle emotional heavy-lifting. As flamboyant as Goldenstein is supposed to be, funny man Carell (who has demonstrated considerable dramatic acting chops in Foxcatcher) seems more like a fey variation on Michael Scott. The supporting cast also includes Skipp Sudduth (Third Watch) as Hester's chief, Anthony DeSando (Kiss Me, Guido) as a homophobic colleague, Kelly Deadmon (Snake Eyes) as Laurel's sister, and Mary Birdsong (The Descendants) as Stacie's mother.
Video
No complaints about LionsGate's typically serviceable 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC encode which features detailed close-ups and medium shots, with only some momentary noise noticeable in the police chief's striped dress shirt late in the film. 
Audio
The primary audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that has its busier surround moments but is generally front-oriented, placing greater emphasis on conversations at intimate volume levels and the painful wheezing and breathing of Laurel as she gets sicker. Optional audio tracks include a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo descriptive audio track in English and a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dub. Optional subtitles are LionsGate's typical layout of English SDH, English, and Spanish. 
Extras
In the audio commentary by director Peter Sollett, Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, Moore recalls starting to read the script and thinking it was just a police procedural based on the opening sequence. Moore and Page also discuss preparing for the roles and separating their own emotional reactions to the story from those of the characters. All three of them draw on their discussions with Wells and Andree, including some anecdotes about Wells and Hester's working relationship. Page also discusses coming out publicly shortly before shooting started. The Making of Freeheld (13:55) features commentary from director Sollett, actors Page, Moore, Shannon, and Carell, and members of the crew. ProducerMichael Shamberg (Django Unchained) became familiar with Hester's story through the 2007 documentary of the same title by Wade and recruited Philadelphia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner to adapt it into a film. The actors reflect on their roles and doing their real-life equivalents justice, including Andree and others who made cameo appearances during the Freeholder meeting scenes. In Freeheld to Freedom: Ocean County Then and Now (8:53), the real life Stacie Andree, Dane Wells, Lynda Hester, Jim Hester, and Steve Goldenstein reflect on how things have changed in the town and in their lives since Laurel's death. The most valuable extra on the disc is Wade's Academy Award-winning 2007 documentary Freeheld (38:49) - presented in standard definition and provided by Cinemax - which details the last days of Hester's life and offers the opportunity to see how closely the film stuck to the actual events (including the council meetings, the speeches, and the squirming and excuses of the Freeholders). We also get a sense of the dramatic license the film took (Wells was Hester's first partner but not current partner and had known that she was a lesbian). While the feature film has made the story available to a wider audience, it is unfortunate that this poignant documentary itself is relegated to a special feature. 
Overall
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