Review of The Laramie Project (2002) by Gabo L — 03 Jan 2009

In 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, tortured, and left for dead on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming, and this documentary style drama follows members of the New York Tectonic Theater Project as they research the reaction to his death for a play (the play from which this film was adapted).

The ideas about hate-crime and homophobia that have to do with the case are really interesting, and the film does a good job of exploring them, but content isn't enough to tie a movie together (especially when it is drawn from real events).

Although you can allow for an emotional side to such a film, the constant sobbing and soppy speeches just are not necessary- we only have to see it once and we get the point that it is sad, now we want some more detail about the case, and maybe to know more about some of the people involved.

The scripting and structure are both excellent and the cast makes me wonder why the film isn't better known- there are great performances from Steve Buscemi, Laura Linney, Joshua Jackson, Jeremy Davies, and Christina Ricci (and it really is worth seeing the film for Ricci dressed as an angel).

Good but not as good as it should have been...