GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

leonblackwood Review: Although this movie is about an emotional true story, I must admit, I found it slightly boring. I thought that there was going to be much more depth to the touching subject matter but it seemed to skip from one scene to the next, once Laurel Heater (Julianne Moore) was diagnosed with Cancer. The love story between Laurel and her partner, Stacie Andree (Ellen Page), was sweet and I liked the fact that the tough cop, Laurel, fell for such a innocent young girl but the courtroom drama wasn't in the same league as Philadelphia. With that aside, the performances are top class, especially from Julianne Moore, and the outcome of Laurels uphill battle, to fight for gay equality, was truly amazing. I'm glad that the director added some wit, with Steve Carell's character, Steve Goldstein, because the movie needed a bit of a pick-up after a while. Michael Shannon also added great support to Laurel and when the officers showed up to her hearing and gave her there sick days, it was an emotional moment. The main problem with the whole film is that it seemed a bit rushed, towards the end and you don't get to hear much from Laurel, even though everyone is fighting for her partner to get her pension. Anyway, it's a watchable movie which does have some touching moments but I still think that this amazing true story, could be told much better. Average!Round-Up: Although this movie received some good reviews, it still suffered a big lose at the box office, which is a shame because the subject matter is brilliant. The movie was directed by Peter Sollett, who also brought you Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and an episode of the new Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger series, Vinyl. The movie was written by Ron Nyswaner, who also wrote Philadelphia in 1993, so the subject matter must be close to his heart. I personally had high hopes for this film but I felt a bit let down with the final product, especially as the director had some great actors to work with. Budget: $7million Worldwide Gross: $600,000 (Terrible)I recommend this movie to people who are into their biography/drama/romance movies starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carell, Josh Charles, William Sadler and Luke Grimes. 5/10

Tony Heck "The law you're talking about violates the sanctity of marriage, it offends traditional values, and in this county that's political suicide." Laurel Hester (Moore) is a detective in New Jersey and is one of the best at what she does. She also has a secret she is trying to keep hidden. When she meets Stacie (Page) she is happier than she has ever been and little by little opens up. When she is diagnosed with cancer the only thing Laurel wants is to leave her pension to Stacie, but the state won't allow it. Laurel now is not only fighting for her life, but the future of Stacie's as well. This is one fantastic movie. A movie that keeps you engrossed, interested and furious all at the same time. The fact that this is a true story makes the entire thing more infuriating. The movie really shows why any objection to gay equality is ridiculous doesn't help anyone. It also shows the real reason why many officials didn't want it to happen, and it's more selfish than I expected, and that's saying a lot. I don't want this to become political but I will just say watch this and make your own decision about it. I will say I loved it and highly recommend it. Overall, a movie that is entertaining to watch as well as continues and important conversation. One of the best movies of the year. I give this an A+.

lasttimeisaw FREEHELD has its noble cause based on a harrowing but also inspiring true event, the fight for equality of a cancer-ridden police officer Laurel Hester (Moore) and her partner Stacie Andree (Page), Laurel intends to leave her pension to Stacie after her death, but the main barrier is Board of Chosen Freeholders of Ocean County, New Jersey, where those freeholders reject to grant the transferring benefit to one's domestic partner.The story has already been made into an Oscar-winning documentary short with the same name by Cynthia Wade in 2007, so this project shapes up to be a tailor-made Oscar bait, script is written by Ron Nyswaner, who penned another LGBT tearjerker PHILADELPHIA in 1993 and is nominated for an Oscar; director Peter Sollett's previous work NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (2008) is a charming indie hit, and Linda Perry contributes the theme song HANDS OF LOVE with Miley Cyrus as the performer. As for our two leading ladies, FREEHELD marks a high-profile follow-up after Moore's overdue Oscar victory in STILL ALICE (2014) and a career-boost to her 27-year younger co-star Ellen Page, who gallantly came out in 2014 and has been involved with the film for six years, plus with Shannon and Carrell on board, it has all the potential to be another THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010), but it gets a cold shoulder as soon as it debuts in Toronto last year, completely goes off the radar in the awards season afterwards.Fairly speaking, the film is a dependable drama, faithfully spoon-feeds the story from Laurel and Stacie's encounter, the usual trajectory of their romance, Laurel's closeted defence against the glass-ceiling in the police department, to the tragic part where a terminal cancer cast its shadow to their life, and the subsequent battle to buck the trend with the help of Laurel's working-partner Dane Wells (Shannon), Steven Goldstein (Carell), a radical gay-marriage advocate and the founder of Garden State Equality and a conscientious freeholder Bryan Kelder (Charles). Overall Sollett plays safe to the material itself but Nyswaner's script fails to lift the source above its banal biographical mechanism, despite there is a sterling cast at hand. Moore staunchly challenges a more butch attitude in Laurel, whose controlling nature is very much at odds with the submissive and meek Jules in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, but the enormous age difference and Page's juvenile tomboy guise (has she even grown from JUNO 2007?) are not in favour of registering ample chemistry between them although for Page, her performance is less calculated and reflects her true nature. Shannon has no slack in playing a cardboard virtuous person, but Carell does chew up the scenery in his comic relief turn.Laurel and Stacie's fight bears out a significant moment in human history, although marriage equality has already been legalised for USA citizens prior to the film's release date, bigotry and prejudice against LGBT people (as portrayed in the picture) is still rampant, notably in these backward areas and among those narrow-minded, not to mention the bigger picture in a global scale, there is still a long long way to fight, that why this sub-genre is still essential in our contemporary cinematic domain. So this movie underachieves to be a top-tier contender, but we do need films like this, heralded by Hollywood big names to leaven the mainstream market, wherever we are, diversity matters!

James De Bello Even though it treads a lot, and I mean it, a lot of ground that has been covered by countless films before, especially recently, "Freeheld" is a well-crafted film that has committed and passionate work behind it that manage to make it come through a lot more than it could have in many other situations.I am baffled by Juliane Moore honestly, that is the first and only thing that comes off the top of my head thinking of the film. She is so talented it is ridiculous. Because even if this is a performance that we have seen so many times before, even by Moore herself last year, she still manages to make it fu**ing interesting, new and genuine. This actress is a legend really. Right from her way of moving on screen she just lives and breathes the characters she is given and makes them so much more of what is on paper, which is also the main reason this film succeeds.Because the film does recycle a lot. Both in ideas and style. It fits right into the streak of true story films that we have had in recent years and doesn't really emerge. It doesn't have a personal stamp, it doesn't really say anything special or new and what it says it really throws in your face without space for a more subtle or emotional narrative. As always with true story movies it gets deep into manipulating your emotions by pulling very, very easy heartstrings and doesn't make an attempt at trying to make a movie first before a recounting of the true story.Yet, you feel that much of it, despite being standard, is truly heartfelt by the cast. Micheal Shannon is really, really good, Ellen Page doesn't always find her place on screen, but still manages to come off as the very good actress she is.So in the end what we have is something that excites and moves in a way too conventional and seen-before way, that comes off as a pleasant experience thanks to its actors' commitment. I will never, ever watch this film again, but I will also never regret having seen it.