Review: ‘Freeheld’ tells a powerful story in a somewhat generic fashion

Posted on October 23, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

In 2005, Laurel Hester, a Ocean County New Jersey police detective discovered she had lung cancer. Fearing the worst, the 23-year-veteran requested her domestic partner be named beneficiary of her pension should she die. There was only one problem. Her partner was a woman, Stacie Andree, and although they were in a legal domestic partnership, they were not married, since they couldn’t legally do so.

Her request was denied, sparking a campaign which began locally and soon gained national prominence, all the while questioning what was right and what was fair, even as her cancer got worse.

Hester’s fight was told in the 2007 Academy Award-winning documentary short “Freeheld,” and now we get the feature film of the same name starring Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”) as Hester and Ellen Page (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”) as Andree.

Moore, fresh off her Oscar win for last year’s “Still Alice,” delivers a powerful performance, with Page and Michael Shannon as Hester’s cop partner giving strong supporting turns as well.

Director Peter Sollett (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”) doesn’t really leave a mark on the film, which leaves the film feeling a bit “made for television.” Overall, it is admittedly by the numbers, hitting all the right beats a little too cleanly, but the story and the acting elevate it to something still compelling and emotional.

The film is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, language and sexuality.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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