Freeheld
Director: Peter Sollett
Talent: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carrell
Release Date: 19th February 2016
Freeheld tells the true story of New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester (Moore) who, upon discovering she has metastasized lung cancer and will soon die, makes repeated appeals to her county’s legislative board members (‘freeholders’) to allow her to pass on her pension benefits to her partner, Staci Andree (Page), upon her death.
The film is mired by a weak script and shoddy character development. For one, the two best performers (and also *the main characters*) – Moore and Page – have relatively few lines and screen time. Attention is devoted instead to (a) the homophobic freeholders and cops whose prejudice is as shallowly explored as their eventual changes of heart; (b) Carrell’s offensively stereotypical and flamboyant LGBT rights activist; and (c) Hester’s supportive, straight male colleague, Dane Wells (Shannon). The decision to basically ignore the women around which the story is supposed to revolve causes the bottom to fall out of this film, sapping the story of its impact.
Words: Eva Short
