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Critics Consensus: Freeheld certainly means well, but its cardboard characters and by-the-numbers drama undermine its noble intentions.
Critic Consensus: Freeheld certainly means well, but its cardboard characters and by-the-numbers drama undermine its noble intentions.
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All Critics (132) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (64) | Rotten (68) | DVD (1)
Freeheld assigns its most dynamic arcs to the straight characters who align themselves, sooner or later, with Laurel and Stacie.
Page and Julianne Moore, who plays Hester, have an easy if not electric chemistry, but they seem hamstrung by the movie-of-the-week tropes and Peter Sollett's plodding direction.
[Freeheld] is sincere, to be sure, but unlikely to win any prizes. For starters, the most memorable character in this important story of a courageous woman is a man; that's a problem.
"Freeheld" is a snapshot of a notable American moment.
It hits the right sentimental moments but doesn't truly touch hearts as it settles into courtroom drama mode.
It's a stiff, overly calculated piece of awards bait that has all the elements of an Academy Awards triumph - except a beating heart.
Thanks to some superlative acting and a beautifully constructed screenplay, Freeheld is one of the unsung pleasures of the winter.
You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the story here, just as you'd have to have a mind cemented shut to deny the issues of fairness under the law that are explored.
It teeters on the edge of camp pretension before whipping out its raison d'etre and being unapologetically political. That said, the sheer amount of bodily fluids displayed before it forecloses means it slightly outstays its welcome.
Maybe Just See the Documentary It's Based On?
Moore and Page don't have great chemistry, which means the heart of a movie about the power of love doesn't quite beat.
This is ultimately a by-the-numbers issue pic stubbornly televisual in style and scope.
An emotional tribute-film to Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree. They were a gay couple, who reluctantly turn activists, when Hester was denied the ability to assign her death benefits to her partner, Andree. The acting is stellar if the direction is not. The storyline takes a predictable note, but none of that matters. By the time you see photographs of the real Hester and Andree at the end of the movie, you'll be wiping away tears.
Super Reviewer
Heartfelt and heartrending, "Freeheld" is a real tearjerker of injustice, loss and hope. The dialogue lacks inspiration, but the intimate acting of Moore and Page make up for it.
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