Freeheld

In this true-life drama, New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) finds herself battling the local authorities when she's stricken by cancer and attempts to transfer her pension rights to same-sex partner Stacie Andree (Elliot Page, credited as Ellen Page). Based on a landmark US case in the legal validation of civil partnerships, it's a film filled with good intentions and fine performances (Moore is again outstanding, as is Michael Shannon playing a detective colleague), yet proves somewhat bland in the telling. Director Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) never quite gives the characters a distinctive individuality outside of the social issues they represent. That said, it's definitely a story worth telling, also throwing light on the experience of police officers who keep their sexuality a secret rather than affect their working partnerships with straight colleagues. Still, when Steve Carell pops up as a flamboyantly camp legal activist, it is dismaying to see such a flouncy stereotype in a movie otherwise sincerely behind a gay rights agenda.