Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Freeheld Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 2, 2016

Ron Nyswaner’s name may not be overly familiar to even those who consider themselves diehard credits readers, but Nyswaner’s one at bat as an Academy Award nominated scenarist came courtesy of his screenplay for Philadelphia, a film which many credit for having helped bring awareness of the realities (as opposed to the misconceptions) of AIDS to the general public. Nyswanger hasn’t been that busy crafting screenplays in the interim (according to the IMDb, his only post-Philadelphia big screen outing was his generally well received 2006 version of W. Somerset Maugham’s The Painted Veil), choosing instead to focus on teleplays and producing for such small screen series as Ray Donovan and Homeland. It may be that Nyswaner, who according to several online biographies is deeply committed to issues of gay rights, wanted to revisit the same cultural touchstone territory that informed Philadelphia with his work on Freeheld, a feature film more or less culled from the real life travails of Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), travails which had been previously depicted in the Academy Award nominated documentary short sporting the same name as the feature film (and which is also included on this Blu-ray as a significant supplement). Freeheld concerns the now “moot” point (by way of last year’s Supreme Court decision, if no other intervening rulings by lower courts) that spousal benefits were at one point non-transferable between same sex couples. What on its face seems like a logical and simple request—namely, that Hester’s pension go to her (female) partner after Hester is diagnosed with terminal cancer—instead sparked considerable controversy and even umbrage in Ocean County, New Jersey, where Hester had long toiled as a police officer. Ironically, the lesser known term “freehold”, which in this case refers to the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders (i.e., the local ruling authority, the county legislature), actually goes back to ancient British law and concerns real property which can be passed down from an owner (a freeholder) to his heirs and assigns. A similar ability to choose what happened to her assets (in this case, a pension) wasn’t available to Hester, and her efforts to make sure her money went where she wanted it to provides the dramatic impetus of the film.

Part of what ails this “dramatic recreation” is the very inclusion of that Academy Award winning documentary short, for the comparison of how the two treat the same subject is instructive while not always redounding to the benefit of the feature film. Instead of immediately focusing on Laurel’s fight for justice after she’s diagnosed with stage four cancer, the film instead decides to supposedly create emotional context by offering more back story than the documentary does. It’s an understandable gambit, but one that makes the film feel awfully pat at times, almost more like a made for television Lifetime three hankie weeper than an insightful commentary on injustice.

Laurel’s history is charted in the film’s first act, as she makes her way in the male dominated world of the New Jersey police force. She is pretty decidedly closeted, trying to keep her private life, well, private even from coworkers like her well meaning partner Dane Wells (Michael Shannon). Still, Laurel feels the need to connect romantically with someone, and she’s surprised to find a willing respondent in the much younger Stacie Andree (Ellen Page), whom Laurel meets on a women’s volley ball team. While perhaps not the sort of pair one would instantly describe as “meant for each other”, the two have an easy rapport which Moore and Page bring quite capably to life. This part of the film nonetheless often feels rote and by the numbers, especially since Stacie is in some ways underwritten, almost like a plot conceit that needs to be there but without any real foundational support.

If a certain shallowness is evident in these early scenes, things become more emotionally visceral once Laurel’s diagnosis is revealed and the film moves on to the central conflict which would ultimately become part of the national debate on same sex spousal (or partner) rights. While the overtly political elements are going to be maddening to many (and not just necessarily to those on the left end of the political spectrum, due to some kind of cartoonishly villainous depictions of the New Jersey freeholders), other more patently “mundane” material, like Stacie simply trying to see Laurel in the hospital, may actually strike some viewers as more heart rending.

The film tips over into near comedic territory, a probably unwise tonal decision, with the arrival of Steven Goldstein (a perhaps miscast Steve Carrell), the founder of Garden State Equality, an organization which concentrates on LGBT rights. Goldstein, an unabashedly “flamboyant” gay Jew, acts like a kind of lightning rod, creating “events” (including some protests) that he hopes will bring attention to the injustice being fostered by the New Jersey councilmen (and they are all of course male). Carrell’s kind of mincing, hyperbolic take on the character is a bit of a mismatch for the more reserved, nuanced work of Moore. This part of the film also doesn’t especially offer Page much to do other than to look anguished and cry a lot.

Despite these potential missteps, there’s no denying the emotional energy the film attains as it moves toward its bittersweet endgame. The resolve of Laurel is beautifully detailed here, and Moore pulls out all the stops in some fantastically powerful if often disturbing scenes as Laurel is in the final stages of her disease. The fact that justice finally is achieved turns out to be an inevitable Pyrrhic victory, at least for Laurel. Freeheld never attains the force that Philadelphia did, but it comes close at times, and those who have watched the rather incredible cascade of history with regard to LGBT rights over the past couple of years will most likely find this particular “niche” of the story fascinating.

Freeheld Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Freeheld is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Digitally shot with Arri Alexa XT cameras, this is another recent film which offers a completely solid, technically near flawless presentation which nonetheless never really pops in any meaningful way, preferring instead to exploit a more tamped down, naturalistic and even perhaps verité approach toward its subject matter. Colors look very natural but are not especially well saturated, save for a couple of really stunning sequences set at the beach. Detail levels remain generally very high throughout the presentation, and some of the makeup work as Laurel's condition deteriorates is almost horrifying, especially in close-ups. Director Peter Sollett and French cinematographer Maryse Alberti (Creed) favor natural lighting conditions (or at least what looks like natural lighting conditions), with the results being occasionally slightly on the gauzy side, especially in some interior locations like the hospital.

Freeheld Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Freeheld's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers some good if rather subtle immersion is scenes like the aforementioned beach sequences, or even in some early moments when Laurel is working in the busy police precinct environment, but otherwise this film tends to deal more in quieter dialogue moments, offering the bulk of the sonic content anchored front and center. A few source cues offer reasonable activity in the side and rear channels as well. Fidelity is fine, though dynamic range somewhat restrained.

Freeheld Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Peter Sollett, Julianne Moore and Ellen Page is nicely informative and obviously heartfelt, covering some of the background of the case and choices that were made in the dramatization.


• The Making of Freeheld (1080p; 13:55) is a decent EPK with scenes from the film, interviews and behind the scenes footage.


• Freeheld to Freedom: Ocean County Then and Now (1080p; 8:53) is a brief but well done overview of the legacy of Hester, including interviews with the real life Stacie.


• Freeheld Documentary (480i; 38:49) is the original Academy Award winning documentary short which inspired the feature film.

Freeheld Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Freeheld offers more than a few pages from Nyswaner's Philadelphia playbook, with a doomed focal character fighting for justice against seemingly insurmountable odds. Moore does fantastic work here, especially in the second half of the film. Page has less to do, but manages to create a believable character, often out of very little material. The thorn in the film's side is the atypically abrasive Carrell, who just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the film's kind of staunchly noble take on its subject matter. Despite these and a few other missteps, the film is often quite moving and the chance to see it in tandem with the original documentary short is quite instructive on a number of levels. Recommended.