Freeheld: Amore, giustizia, uguaglianza

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Freeheld" (2015) is a movie based on a very real story. I won't go into plot details, but this is kinda inspirational story. The lead performance by Julianne Moore is great - you won't expect anything less from this caliber Oscar winner, and she delivers it. Movie itself isn't bad by any means, at running time 1 h 40 min it wasn't boring and i watched it in one sit, and that is not a bad sign. But movie-making wasn't original or exciting and etc. This is a very averagely told story, with any emotional deep (script lacks of it) or anything else for what i could remember this movie for longer then one day after i finished it.

Overall, "Freeheld" is very watchable movie with no lasting impression. There are many well known faces in this movie, but they don't have much to do, script is very flat and predictable, directing is very simple. This is OK movie for one evening.

Ten years before same sex marriage became legal in this country, a police detective from Ocean County New Jersey (played by Julianne Moore) fights for the rights of her domestic partner (played by Ellen Page) to receive her police pension before she dies of lung cancer.

The movie does have everything, as it goes over the life of Laurel Hester. It starts out as a police drama, as we watch Hester and her partner (on the force)Dane Wells tracked down a murderer. We see how good of a cop she is and how much that means to the community. Then it becomes a romance, as Hester meets Stacie and the two start a lovely relationship, slightly tainted by the fact Hester, a "woman in a man's field" wants and needs to keep her personal life a secret even from the work husband relationship she has with detective Wells. Than it's a political drama as Hester has no choice but to become the poster child for same sex marriage as she fights for what is owed to her and what is best for the one she loves.

Yeah, the movie is laid out perfectly, pushing all the right buttons that get liberals all worked up, and filled with note worthy dialog to try to convince the unconvinced of the cause they are presenting. They show you how the other half feels about the topic, but then they visually beat you over the head with little trivial items that show how old white men are too stubborn and set in their ways (my favorite was one of the Freeholders that would decide about the benefits is wearing a small but noticeable cross as a pin on his suit)

I feel the movie may have depended too much on their facts, and when it came to their opinion, they did a lackluster job of showing emotion. Julianne Moore is a great actress and the movie has that going for it. Ellen Page also gives a nice performance especially when she shares a scene with Moore. Micheal Shannon is a far better actor than this movie gives him credit for. I feel that they could have done more with him, but his only real acting spar was Steve Carrel, who played a Jewish lawyer that herd about the Hester case and brilliantly used it to get the point across for gay marriage.

It's a good movie, but it's only a good movie because they talk about a great topic. I would have like them to have done more with what they had and show more emotion about what's going on.

This film tells the story of a well respected and very competent police officer in New Jersey, who fights against the county to give her pension to her partner after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

It is really beyond me that "Freeheld" is not getting any award nominations. It is way more touching, captivating and engrossing than the other film that is getting a lot of attention. Julianne Moore is superb in the film. Steve Carell is very good as well, he is likable as the flamboyant activist. The story is so touching that I literally kept reaching out for tissues to wipe my tears and blow my nose. I thoroughly enjoyed the film!

One of the things that has always annoyed me about people opposing gay rights laws is the absolute refusal of the opposition especially those religiously based to recognize romantic love. It's not recognized in the holy works of religion therefore it doesn't exist. Even in this film where we are talking about two people in love. Believe the evidence of your own eyes about Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree in the film Freeheld.

I worked for NYS Crime Victims Board and in death I came in contact with a lot of ordinary LGBTQ people who in death had their lives magnified far more than what they did in their lives. Such is the case with Laurel Hester who was a detective with the Ocean County Police in New Jersey. I'm not sure she was closeted, but she certainly was discreet in her male dominated work place.

Discretion went out the window when she meets Stacie Andree a much younger woman at a softball game. The two start living together and while it's not all roses, the commitment is truly there.

And then cancer strikes and what to do about whatever estate Hester might leave. This story illustrates precisely the problem that LGBTQ people had before marriage settled the issue permanently. You could in some places get a domestic partnership certificate and have the relationship recorded. But it wasn't mandated that private industry and government recognize it.

Thus was the issue of the film as the town of Freehold and its governing body would not extend survivor benefits to Ms. Andree. They were not married, but legally they could not get married. At least without a lot of agitation and organizing.

Which is where Steve Carrell as Steven Goldstein comes in, leading the same sex marriage lobbying group. The issue as he says is so neatly encapsulated in the problem that Hester and Andree face.

Two things I liked about Freeheld that make this a special film. One was the chemistry between Julianne Moore and Ellen Page as Laurel and Stacy. They made me believe the love was real.

The second was the scenes among Laurel's police colleagues with her and among themselves. The differing reactions was a sampling of straight and male America, quite nicely documented.

Freeheld is a great film showing the need for same sex marriage as few others have.

The movie was inspired by the Oscar winning documentary and several of the real life folks have cameos in the film. Julianne Moore and Ellen Page play a couple that falls in love and then deals with a cancer diagnosis and then a fight for a police pension after twenty three years of service to be granted to her domestic partner. Well done as some of the characters you truly begin to despise over the course of the film. It's always good to be on the right side of history.