Freeheld

Julianne Moore stars in this based-on-a-true-court-case story of a lesbian cop who takes on an entire community to demand equal rights and justice for her domestic partner. Working for the Ocean County Police Department in Seaside Heights, NJ, Laurel Hester (Moore) is quiet about her private life until she meets smart, eloquent Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). When the pair commit to one another and renovate a house, Laurel realizes that her longtime squad-car partner, Dane Wells (Michael Shannon), feels somewhat betrayed because she never confided in him. And then Laurel is diagnosed with terminal stage-four lung cancer. While receiving radiation, she tries to assign her pension to Stacie so the latter can keep their home. But the prejudiced county commissioners, who are called Freeholders, refuse to extend benefits to same-sex partners. Although Laurel's fellow officers initially fail to come to her defense, empathetic Dane becomes her staunch ally, along with civil rights activist Steven Goldstein (Steve Carell), a self-described “loud, gay Jew” who turns Laurel's appeal into a national front-page story. Laurel's case wound up changing New Jersey law, extending domestic partner benefits to all public employees (whether married or not), and helping to pave the way for the subsequent Supreme Court legalization of same-sex marriage. Formulaically directed by Peter Sollett, the film unfortunately lacks an essential spark of excitement (Cynthia Wade's Oscar-winning same-titled 2007 short documentary was more effective). Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Peter Sollett and costars Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, filmmaker Cynthia Wade's original 2007 Oscar-winning documentary short Freeheld (39 min.), a “making-of” featurette (14 min.), a “Freeheld to Freedom: Ocean County Then and Now” behind-the-scenes segment (9 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this dramatically tepid true-life story.] (S. Granger)