Heights

A deft ensemble drama with a hard, honest, emotional core reflecting the complexity that sexual histories can impose on modern relationships, Heights takes place over 24 hours that prove unexpectedly pivotal to each of its cross-pollinating Manhattan lives. At the center of one of the film's concentric social circles is an aspiring photographer (Elizabeth Banks) stuck in an uncertain engagement to a handsome young lawyer (James Marsden). The other revolves around her blunt, outwardly self-confident mother (Glenn Close), whose liberal open marriage has nevertheless taken an inward psychological toll. Around these two women orbit several men with secret pasts that all collide in one evening's revelations, upsetting the tenuous balance of their hearts. Director Chris Terrio's cinema vérité style, enhanced by the cold blue-gray cinematography, lends visceral substance to the film's depiction of dampened, sometimes stylized emotions (a carryover from Amy Fox's adaptation of her play), while Banks and Close deliver nuanced performances that tap mother-daughter animosity, as well as the palpable subconscious anxiety arising from their lives not going as planned. Small imperfections keep Heights from being completely satisfying, but it certainly gets to the gut of how sex can fuel--or obliterate--love. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Chris Terrio and costar Glenn Close, a five-minute “On Location in NYC” production diary, the four-minute featurette “The Scottish Play: Designing Broadway for Film,” a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a smart film.] (R. Blackwelder)