Based on queer, true events

Based on a true story (as well as the Oscar- winning doc short of the same name), Freeheld (Summit) begins with a 2002 headline-making New Jersey drug bust by detectives Laurel (Julianne Moore) and her partner Dane (Michael Shannon). Laurel, who has been on the force for more than 20 years, is good at her job, but less successful with her personal life. Intent on making lieutenant, Laurel is forced to stay closeted.

It's hard for Laurel to go out socially and still maintain her privacy, however, she still finds time to mingle her with people, at a volleyball game in Pennsylvania, for instance, where she meets mechanic Stacie (Ellen Page). She's a control-freak with Farrah Fawcett-by-way-of-New Jersey hair delete. Nevertheless, Laurel agrees to go to a gay bar with Stacie. It's a momentous occasion in many ways – Stacie gets Laurel to dance, Laurel scares off would-be homophobic muggers, and she runs into Belkin (Luke Grimes), a fellow closeted cop. Laurel and Belkin agree to keep the other's sexuality a secret.

These set-up scenes, including those in which Laurel and Stacie's relationship develops into something long-lasting, are sluggish, awkward and preachy. Almost everyone who will see Freeheld knows all about the subject of LGBT discrimination, especially since the film takes place within this century. The message of someone who goes above and beyond on the job and then is discriminated against in the workplace because they are queer is a familiar story.

It's sad to say, but it isn't until Laurel is diagnosed with late stage lung cancer that Freeheld comes fully alive. Even though Laurel and Stacie went to Village Hall and registered as domestic partners long before she falls ill, Laurel's request to make Stacie the recipient of her pension benefits is repeatedly denied by the board of all-male council members known as Freeholders. Following a front-page story about Laurel, gay lawyer and Garden State Equality activist Steven (Steve Carrell) gets involved and history is made in the case.

Freeheld won't do much for New Jersey's image. The screenplay by gay writer Ron Nyswaner (an Oscar-nominee for Philadelphia) is more than a little problematic, but the acting is decent, especially by Page and Moore. DVD special features include the aforementioned Academy Award-winning short, audio commentary with Moore, Page and director Peter Sollett, and a pair of featurettes.

(Purchase Freeheld from Amazon)

The late Nigel Finch's 1995 film Stonewall, based on Martin Duberman's acclaimed book with a screenplay by Ricki Beadle Blair, might have been flawed, but it's a far better movie than the new Stonewall (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions), directed by gay director Roland Emmerich, featuring a disappointing screenplay by gay playwright Jon Robin Baitz. Even before its release, the film was creating a stir because of the supposed lack of minority representation within the cast. In all honesty, that's small potatoes in comparison to the way that the filmmaker doesn't think that the subject of the Stonewall Inn is compelling enough on its own. Instead, it's bogged down by the story of a gay kid escaping small-town Indiana to come to the big, bad city to be who he is. He's cute, but he's just not that interesting.

In June 1969, with homosexuality still against the law and classified as a mental illness, fresh-faced lost sheep Danny (Jeremy Irvine) arrives in New York's West Village with a hastily packed suitcase and big plans for attending Columbia University in the fall. He left his rural Midwestern home earlier than planned after his homophobic high school football coach father discovered that Danny and the team's star player Joe (Karl Glusman) have been huddling together off the field.

Landing in Sheridan Square, near the Stonewall Inn, Danny meets trans hustler Ray (Jonny Beauchamp), aka Ramona, and his queer crew, including the legendary Marsha P. Johnson (Otoja Abit) and gay rights advocate Bob Kohler. Swept up in the scene Danny has a variety of new, exciting and terrifying experiences, including being paid for sex, bar raids, getting beaten up by cops and being romanced by hot gay activist Trevor (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

With his future plans becoming increasingly fuzzy – his Columbia scholarship is at risk of being rescinded because he left school early and his father is in control of his paperwork – Danny is torn. Does he join Ray and the world of the streets or follow Trevor and his activist circle, including Frank Kameny of the Mattachine Society? Of course, the night of the June 28, 1969 Stonewall raid changes his life forever.

To its credit, Stonewall includes a fascinating section about the bar's bouncer/manager Ed Murphy (Ron Perlman) who procured hustlers for high profile folks such as a cross-dressing J. Edgar Hoover. Because of his mob and pimping connections and blackmail activities, Murphy is presented as the main focus of Deputy Seymour Pine's (Matt Craven) primary motivation for raiding the bar.

The biggest problem is that we've seen some of this little-lost-gay-lamb swept-up-in-the- moment storytelling before in the aforementioned 1995 Stonewall movie. The bummer is that the history of the Stonewall bar itself gets buried in the excess. Maybe someone somewhere will finally make a movie about the Stonewall that is deserving of the title. As they say, the third time's the charm. DVD bonus features include four featurettes and the theatrical trailer.

(Purchase Stonewall from Amazon)