Freeheld - Every Love Is the Same

Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) is a cop with heart and soul. She's a highly respected colleague in her New Jersey precinct, cracking many a tough case with her partner Dane Wells (Michael Shannon). But she keeps even Dane in the dark about her personal life. And for good reason, because Laurel is a lesbian. If this were to become known, many of her very conservative colleagues would certainly not be very well disposed towards her. Even when she finds the love of her life in the young mechanic Stacie (Ellen Page), she keeps the relationship a secret. But then fate strikes mercilessly: Laurel is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She's going to die and Stacie will lose not only her, but the little home they've built together. Only if Laurel's pension rights are transferred to Stacie could she keep the home they share. But to do that, she'll have to make her love public and go into an uphill battle against the narrow-minded authorities. And whether she has the strength and time to do so is questionable.

In Freeheld, director Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah - Soundtrack of a Night) tells the true story of Laurel Hester, which was the subject of an Oscar-winning short documentary back in 2007. Although Sollett has taken the content and title from Cynthia Wade's award-winning documentary, he attempts to give his interpretation a slightly more universal feel. To be sure, the focus is ostensibly on a couple's struggle for justice. At the same time, however, the film is intended to be a general plea for equal rights, tolerance and the recognition of same-sex marriage. It's an important and thoroughly moving story, carried by a convincing Julianne Moore.

The problem with the film is that it simply lays it on too thick in places. Some moments seem staged just to be used as clips for various awards shows. In the film, however, these scenes just seem too artificial, too steeped in clichéd pathos to really work. The great emotional impact, which is supposed to be achieved here, is only achieved to a limited extent. In addition, Steve Carell's good, but a bit too hyper performance almost seems like a humorous foreign body in a drama that is otherwise dominated by dramaturgical heaviness. The little banter between the shrill Steve and the very buttoned-up Dane is amusing, no question. But to the prevailing tone of the production, these little moments of exhilaration just don't want to work.

It's a shame that this very strong story has been so conventionally realized. At least: the message of the story can defy the weaknesses of the execution and the importance of what Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree accomplished so close to Hester's death becomes very clear. So in the end the movie still provides enough material to think about and discuss and can at least move on this level. For this there is then at the end nevertheless still a proper: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp