Review of Hannah Free (2009) by Stewed T — 26 Oct 2009

"Hannah Free" affords a terrific role for Sharon Gless, who runs with it gloriously, playing a salty, blunt elderly lesbian confined to a wheelchair in a convalescent home but still possessed of a hearty spirit that in her need for "life to surprise her" led her to roam the world. Hannah, however, always returned to her small Midwest town, eventually settling down with Rachel, the woman who had been her lifelong lover.

It took years for the two women to come to terms with their mutual grand passion, with Rachel as traditional a woman as Hannah has always been unconventional. Rachel even married for appearance's sake, becoming a young widow with twins, but now Rachel (Maureen Gallagher), having suffered a severe stroke, lies in a coma in a room not far from Hannah's. Rachel's daughter Marge (Taylor Miller), a dim, homophobic, religious conservative, refuses to let Hannah visit her mother on the grounds that it would upset Rachel -- nevermind that she is unconscious.

Then Rachel's great-granddaughter Greta (Jacqui Jackson) pays a visit, setting in motion Hannah and Rachel's love story, which unfolds in flashbacks. It is a story, beautifully told, of love enduring the obstacles that have always challenged gay people -- and still do. Now Hannah faces her greatest challenge -- simply in getting to bid her lover goodbye.

Claudia Allen has skillfully adapted her play to the screen, opening it up without destroying its intimacy and cohesiveness. Wendy Jo Carlton has directed "Hannah Free" with a simplicity and cinematic fluidity that serves Allen's often tart, amusing dialogue well. The exceptional cast includes Kelli Strickland as the younger Hannah and Ann Hagemann as the younger Rachel. The film goes for an ending scene that would surely smack of the improbable were it not so well-played by Gless, Jackson and especially Miller -- but in the end, the movie belongs to Sharon Gless.

-- Kevin Thomas LA TIMES.