The Large Cast of The Laramie Project Conveys the Complexities of a Stricken Town

One of the nice side benefits to being a LOST fan is that it has led me to several movies by way of its cast. With a couple dozen actors starring and another hundred or so in memorable supporting roles, that opens up a lot of possibilities. In the case of The Laramie Project, I’d run across it on the IMDb page of Nestor Carbonell and Jeremy Davies, which piqued my interest enough to click on its own page and discover that it also features Clancy Brown and Michael Emerson. Not since In Bruges have I seen so many actors from the same series (in that case, Harry Potter) in another project.

Of course, this is a movie with a huge cast. In essence, it’s a documentary, with actors standing in for the citizens of Laramie, Wyoming and the team of people who came to interview them in the wake of the brutal murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. Writer-director Moises Kaufman headed a group of interviewers who spoke to more than 200 people over the course of a year, gathering residents’ impressions of the trial as it unfolded as well as their memories of Matthew and of Aaron McKinney (Mark Webber) and Russell Henderson (Garrett Neergaard), the young men responsible for his death.

The film, like the acclaimed play that preceded it, distills hundreds of hours of interviews into a couple of hours. On stage, there are only eight actors, each playing multiple roles, but in the movie, each character is portrayed by a different actor. From the many voices represented, some particularly memorable characters emerge, demonstrating the range of reactions to this tragic event. The vast majority of citizens are distressed by the violence. Some classify it as a hate crime, while others can’t understand why there is so much focus on Matthew’s orientation. Several clearly are tired of their town being in the midst of a media frenzy, while others hope that Moises and his team will help to demonstrate that most townspeople are not like the murderers.

Initially, I was most attentive to the actors that drew me to the movie in the first place. That alone gave me plenty to watch, as Carbonell, portraying Moises, is probably on-screen for more than half the movie. Here, he demonstrates the same sort of level-headedness and good listening skills that make Richard Alpert such an effective advisor on LOST. Jeremy Davies, portraying theatre major Jedadiah Schulz, has quite a bit of screen time too. Like Daniel Faraday, he’s sweet-natured, soft-spoken almost to the point of inarticulateness and perpetually nervous, due in part to his fear of going against the wishes of his strong-willed parents. Perhaps better than any other character, he exemplifies the struggle to reconcile compassion with seemingly conflicting religious beliefs. Davies and Carbonell appear together in several scenes, which is neat to see as they interact so memorably in two of LOST‘s most game-changing episodes.

Clancy Brown, like Kelvin Inman, has a no-nonsense air about him as detective Rob Debree, who plays a major part in the trials that follow, while Michael Emerson, so often chilling as Ben Linus, manages to cause uneasiness in two brief scenes as a pastor of a local church. I was disappointed in how limited his role was, since Emerson is always so fascinating to watch and since it was hard to really get the measure of his character in such a short time, but as he evidently refused to participate in any sort of extended interview, I suppose that couldn’t be avoided. I’m a little surprised Moises bothered to include him, but I’m guessing he wanted to show that not all the clergy in town were as accepting of Matthew’s open homosexuality as Father Roger Schmit (Tom Bower), the feisty Catholic priest who becomes a major voice against hate crimes. While Emerson’s unnamed reverend condemns the violence, the steely manner in which he conveys his hope that Matthew repented of his lifestyle before slipping into a coma also carries hints of condemnation - though nothing near as virulent as the toxic words of Fred Phelps (James Murtaugh), who, along with other members of his Westboro Baptist Church, pickets Matthew’s funeral and the subsequent trials.

That spiteful demonstration inspires a counter-protest led by Romaine Patterson (Christina Ricci), a spirited young woman whose friendship with Matthew helped spark her own activism. Sympathetic store owner Trish Steger (Margo Martindale) and warm-hearted drama teacher Rebecca Hillicker (Camryn Manheim) are among the most troubled that something like this could happen in their town. One of the most riveting characters is Reggie Fluty (Amy Madigan), the dedicated police officer who first arrives on the scene and later finds out that her close contact with the bleeding Matthew exposed her to his HIV, as she had open sores on her hands at the time. Also intriguing is Steve Buscemi’s crusty but wise Doc O’Conner, who sometimes chauffered Matthew into Colorado, and Matt Galloway (Joshua Jackson), the guilt-ridden bartender who was working the night Aaron and Russell accosted Matthew. Meanwhile, the trial shows us the pain of Matthew’s parents, especially his eloquent father (Terry Kinney), as well as the families of the killers, who are unable to understand how the boys they love so much could do such a thing.

The Laramie Project is a sad movie, but there’s also something inspirational in the way that so many of the residents come together to try to make sense of this tragic event. In one of the film’s most striking scenes, a small group of friends and supporters march at the end of the Homecoming Parade in honor of Matthew, who at this point in the film is still clinging to life in a hospital. The parade circles around the block, and by the time it’s over hundreds of people have joined those bringing up the rear. It’s a visual representation of the town’s reaction to the attack, and though there are still some residents who don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about, like Laura Linney’s Sherry Johnson, the grief seems largely communal.

Moises Kaufman and his crew recently returned to Laramie to conduct more interviews for a play entitled The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later; I don’t know if there are any plans to adapt that into a film as well, but I would be interested to see how the town has changed in the years since. A fascinating and sometimes heartbreaking film, The Laramie Project paints a complex portrait of a town coming to grips with a horrific crime and the prejudices that contributed to it.

Hannah Montana: The Movie Should Win Over Target Audience Despite Improbable Plot

It's been years since my family got the Disney Channel, so I was a bit late to discover Hannah Montana. I first heard of her a couple years ago when her calendars started flying off the shelves at the kiosk where I was working. I soon realized that she was the Next Big Thing among tweens, but my own experience with her has remained limited to television guest appearances. This week, I finally got a whopping dose of Hannah when I went to her movie in the company of a very ardent fan. Now at least I have a better idea of what all the hype is about.

Hannah Montana: The Movie is a G-rated adventure with a storyline that Disney and other family-friendly filmmakers have used time and again. Unassuming kid hits the big time and lets it go to her head; by the end of the movie, she's developed a renewed appreciation for her roots. It's nothing new, but it's a logical angle to take for a film about a superstar trying to live a normal life. As the film begins, we find Robby Ray Stewart (Billy Ray Cyrus) concerned that his daughter Miley (Miley Cyrus) is getting too caught up in her Hannah Montana act. She's starting to act like a diva: ignoring commitments to family and friends, fighting with supermodels over shoes and just generally being rather obnoxious. It's time for an intervention. Can a couple of weeks as plain old Miley in her grandmother's (Margo Martindale) farmhouse in her tiny hometown of Crowley Corners, TN, cure her of her egotism?

The impression I got from what I've heard about the show is that Miley is a pretty grounded young woman; it seems her poor behavior is a recent development. And it's problematic enough to convince her dad to out-fox her conniving agent Vita (Vanessa Williams) and force his daughter to blow off a major awards ceremony in favor of Grandma's birthday party. That doesn't strike me as very responsible, despite his good intentions; it's one of many plot devices that fall just a tad flat. Other eyebrow-raising moments in the first few minutes include a confusing transition from a concert to a video shoot and a bit about Miley's brother Jackson (Jason Earles) heading off to college, though nothing in the rest of the movie seems to indicate that he's doing anything other than working at a small-town zoo.

Jackson's animal antics amused me, particularly because an ostrich is involved at one point, but the character serves little purpose in the film other than to take pratfalls, which include crashing to the ground from the top of a ladder, nearly being bitten by an alligator and trying to shake off a ferret that has wound up entangled in his clothing. Pa Stewart is pretty clumsy too, especially in one wince-worthy scene toward the beginning, but his character has considerably more depth. Much of the film is about his attempts to reconnect with his daughter while navigating a possible new romance with alluring local Lorelai (Melora Hardin). Meanwhile, Miley, who also seems to have inherited the family klutz gene, rekindles a friendship with her childhood buddy Travis (Lucas Till, who doesn't sing or dance but still may find himself the next Zac Efron-like teen dream), now a handsome ranch hand. Travis's aw-shucks manner and dimply grin endeared him to me quickly, making the teen romance angle the most interesting element of the story for me, though I also appreciated the emphasis on the importance of family.

There is, of course, a lot of singing in the movie, most of it done by Miley. Her performances are mostly fun and bubblegumish, occasionally reflective. Her countrified, motion-heavy Hoedown Throwdown, which she appears to have made up off the top of her head, seems destined to be this summer's Macarena. Also popping up in the film are the members of Rascal Flatts doing a down-home, folksy rendition of their hit God Blessed the Broken Road and Taylor Swift with a song that affords Miley and Travis the opportunity for their first slow dance. I found the flashiness of some of the concert scenes annoying - and the instant costume changes inexplicable - but Cyrus's voice is pleasant enough - when she's singing, anyway. While her speaking voice didn't make much of an impression on me, my mom found it grating. I couldn't tell if there was a huge difference between Hannah and Miley's speaking voices; I thought she seemed to have more of a twang as Miley, but I'm not sure that was consistent. As with Superman, I certainly question how nobody realizes that Miley and Hannah are the same person. The main difference between them seems to be that Hannah has a blonde wig and excessive makeup.

In the tradition of many corny live-action Disney flicks, Hannah Montana: The Movie features several bumbling villains. One, a developer named Mr. Bradley (Barry Bostwick) who wants to turn Crowley Corners' bucolic meadows into a megamall, is essentially a retread of Alonzo Hawk from the Herbie movies. British tabloid reporter Oswald Granger (Peter Gunn) is rather like 101 Dalmatians' hapless Horace and Jasper; he even works for a foul woman reminiscent of Cruella De Vil. Needless to say, their threat level is minimal, though Mr. Bradley introduces some conflict when Miley is compelled to bring Hannah Montana to Tennessee for a benefit concert. Though her best friend Lilly (Emily Osment) is on hand to help her be two people at once, complications naturally arise. Their eventual resolution stretches believability beyond reasonable limits, but at least the requisite happy ending is achieved.

I enjoyed this movie well enough, and I imagine that most fans of the show will eat it right up like my friend did. In a movie landscape in which G ratings are increasingly rare, I appreciate how inoffensive the film is. It promotes wholesome values, and the romance between Travis and Miley is sweet and reminds me of the puppy love storyline in Princess Diaries, which I thought was terrific. Yes, just about every aspect of this movie reminds me of another film, usually a better one; Hannah Montana: The Movie is derivative to the max, and screenwriter Daniel Berendsen doesn't seem to give viewers much credit for being able to pick up on plot absurdities and inconsistencies. This movie won't be taking home any Oscars next year. But I bet it'll clean up at the Teen Choice Awards, which should be enough to satisfy the famous songstress and her admirers.