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Freeheld

Freeheld (2015)

October. 02,2015
|
6.6
|
PG-13
| Drama Romance

New Jersey car mechanic Stacie Andree and her police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester both battle to secure Hester's pension benefits after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

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Reviews

VeteranLight
2015/10/02

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

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CrawlerChunky
2015/10/03

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

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Tymon Sutton
2015/10/04

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

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Logan
2015/10/05

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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gbkmmaurstad
2015/10/06

A biography based on the lives of police detective, Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) and her domestic partner mechanic, Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). When Laurel is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer after 23 years on the force she wants Stacie to have her pension after she dies. They soon find out that pensions can only be inherited by spouses, not by domestic partners.If you've ever been on the fence about gay marriage this is a realistic view of why it has become law in so many states. Regardless of your views on the topic, it will give the viewer insight to a lifestyle you may not have, but may help you understand those who do a little bit better. This film many not be for young viewers, but anyone old enough to date should see this film.

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Davis P
2015/10/07

Wow. Just wow. This film truly did affect me in such an undeniable way. Freeheld is based on a true story that might have already heard of. This movie tells the incredible true story of Laurel Hester and Stacey Andree, two woman in a romantic relationship together. They are together for probably about a year before actually buying and renovating a house to live in. And they do fix it up quite beautifully and live in it for a good while, having a domestic partnership agreement. But when Laurel complains of a pulled muscle, Stacee gets a little worried and has her go to the doctor and have it checked out. When laurel gets her doctor report back, she is informed that she does in fact have stage 4 lung cancer. Laurel's one last simple wish is that her pension will go to Stacee, just like all her other heterosexual co-workers have theirs go to their opposite sex spouses. The freeholders of ocean county deny her request, mainly because it's a pretty conservative town, and it makes them feel uncomfortable. Let me just say that Julianne Moore is freaking amazing as laurel Hester, she really just embodies the role and really shines in it! Also Ellen page, who just came out as a lesbian herself about a year ago, is awesome as Stacee Andree, she really gave it her all! Also both of them have such amazing chemistry in the film, you can feel the undeniable love and affection they have for one another. When they kiss on screen, it's almost electric. The love portrayed in the film is just so beautiful and touching. Also, the script and dialogue is very well written and engaging. Steve carrel really did his role justice as well, he was awesome too. The rest of the cast really did a great job as well, they all really had obvious zeal and passion for this revolutionary project. I'm so glad that the filmmakers did this moving true story justice when they adapted it to the big screen. I 100% suggest Freeheld! 10/10. Go rent it today.

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Kenji Chan
2015/10/08

Based on a true story and a 2008 Academy Award winning short documentary with the same title, Freeheld is a heart-wrenching and uplifting drama about a same-sex couple's relentless pursuit of love, justice and equality.When a veteran police officer Laurel Hester is diagnosed with terminal cancer, all she wants to do is leave her pension benefits to her life partner, Stacie, so that she can afford to keep their house. Laurel is told no since they are not husband and wife. After spending a lifetime fighting for justice for other people, Laurel launches a final battle for justice for the love of her life.The story is told in a straightforward manner. The first half of the film focuses on depicting Laurel as a dedicated police officer who dreads her colleagues finding out that she is a lesbian and as an average human being who longs for love and strives to start a family with "a house, a dog and a woman she loves". In a homophobic workplace, LGBTI people have to hide and lie since coming out of the closet makes them targets of bullying and affects their promotion. Apprehensive and timorous, Laurel can never truly be herself. The second half of the film focuses on the couple's brave but bitter fight against not only cancer, but also tradition, prejudice, ignorance and inequality, luckily and touchingly with the help of Laurel's colleague, a gay rights activist, the couple's friends and family members. Although some people criticize the first half of the film for being insipid, the director's refusal to resort to sentimentality is greatly appreciated. Instead of making a tear-jerker with clichés sugar-coating and praising effusively the greatness of homosexual love, the director creates life-like characters the audience care about and shows genuinely the love between Laurel and Stacie, which accurately echos the nature of the global fight for LGBTI rights. It can be summarized by what Laurel says in the movie – "I've never asked for special treatment. I'm only asking for equality." True love is beautiful and precious, be it heterosexual or homosexual.Religion is a major reason why some freeholders say no to Laurel's request. In the movie, a priest reminds us that Jesus himself says nothing about homosexuality in the bible. Most of the proscriptions against homosexuality come from the Old Testament, which does mention homosexuality as an abomination, yet if one had actually read the Bible, one would have noticed that the same book of Leviticus also considers eating shellfish, or wearing clothing of two fabrics, an abomination. Some religious people blindly believe in what their churches advocate and apply double standard. Now, let's assume a particular religion is against homosexuality. Should religion and state be separate? For example, it is well known that Pope John Paul II was against artificial birth control. Should there be a law prohibiting citizens from using condoms? If Buddhists deemed it wrong to kill animals, should the government make eating meat illegal? If homosexuals cannot get married just because it goes against your religion, you cannot have cookies because I'm on diet. It seems that some pious people are not aware of a fact that marriage is a legal system which does not belong to a particular religion. While freedom of religion should be totally respected, it is unacceptable to impose religious beliefs on both the legal system and non-believers. Indeed, the overarching theme of the Bible is love. Mother Teresa is right. "If you judge people, you have no time to love them".The ensemble cast is capable. Julianne Moore and Ellen Page are phenomenal. Their facial expressions and body language can effectively convey the characters' emotions. In the movie, we do not see the actresses. Instead, we see an ailing police officer and a car mechanic truly loving each other and fighting together against cancer and inequality. Michael Shannon also delivers a very convincing performance. His character is a "straight, white, ex-Protestant, atheist cop". The wholehearted support he has given Laurel is sincere and moving. Steve Carell, who plays the gay rights activist, adds comic relief to this knuckle-biting and heartbreaking journey. His performance in Foxcatcher is beyond compare though.Love is love. LGBTI people "deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise." Like Suffragette, Freeheld is an important film that needs to be seen. Never take human rights for granted. Let's speak out against injustice courageously, in the name of love.

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David M Farrington
2015/10/09

It's 2002 and we open on… No, wait, it's 2003 now. A year has gone by and… No, wait, she's typing "as per the law enacted in 2005" now but only a month has seemed to pass in the story and… Oh, screw it! I can't keep up anymore. Freeheld, the new movie from director Peter Sollett and Oscar nominated writer Ron Nyswaner, is a relevant film with a discussion about LGBTQ equality that must be had, though it has suddenly become not so relevant. The message is the star of the film and it seems as if Sollett and Nyswaner rushed to make the movie in time forgetting that at heart they are storytellers. They defaulted to the use of clichéd dialogue and stereotypical archetypes, mostly wasting the talents of a stellar cast to release a film that could have had so much more impact if seen just four months earlier, before the SCOTUS decision on Marriage Equality. What they forgot in their haste is that if the story is not told well, we become lost and the thematic elements become insignificant as we just don't care.Freeheld tells the moving true story of Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore/Still Alice, Boogie Nights), a highly decorated detective of the Ocean County, New Jersey Police Department who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Closeted at work in order to...Check out the full review on David 'n the Dark! https://davidnthedark.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/too-cliche-and-too- quick-to-care/

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