Plot: What’s it about?
I will have to admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to watching this movie. I’d heard of it, sure, but didn’t really know the story all the way through. And let me tell you (and get this out of the way), this isn’t a story about Matthew Shepard. Well, let me take that back…it is and it isn’t. The film makes the assumption that you’re essentially familiar with the story of Matthew Shepard. I was, but as is common, I had already forgotten the tragedy that had happened just like so many others (Oklahoma City bombing, the Colorado school shootings and so on). This makes the assumption that you already know what the facts of the case were and there isn’t even an actor to play the part of Shepard; he’s not even in the movie. Sporting an all-star cast, it’s amazing how many faces you’ll recognize in the film. Why this particular "hate crime" was the one that made national attention is something that I don’t know. As the character played by Laura Linney says "Someone was murdered the other day here as well…but everyone’s got their problems." Don’t think me cruel or insensitive, but it’s odd how some news stories make headlines while others go by the wayside. Blame the media, I suppose.
I’ll go ahead and call it a film, as it has actors playing the parts of the real people, but it plays like a documentary. Essentially, the film is that of some theater students from New York who travel out to Laramie, Wyoming after the events of October, 1998. Conducting some 200 + interviews with friends, family and other townspeople, their goal is to make a play out of the incident and eventually bring it back to Laramie to perform. Due to time, not all of the interviews are shown, but with all the star power in the film, it’s equally divided by all the interviewers and those featured interviewees that are shown. It follows the events after the killing and even what happens to the two youths who were charged (and later convicted) of the kidnapping and murder of Matthew Shepard. It’s not easy to watch, that’s for sure, but as they say in one of the featurettes "If one person out there is affected by this, then we will have served our purpose".
Video: How does it look?
Naturally, for a film of this genre, video quality isn’t the foremost thought on the filmmaker’s minds. Mixed in with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is a full-frame version as well. There is some footage from the TV of Bill Clinton and some news reporters covering the original incident, and those images are, understandably, not nearly as clear and pristine as the film itself. I noticed some edge enhancement on some of the characters’ faces, and a general soft feel to the image lasted the entire movie. Again, it’s not the type of movie you watch for the audio and video quality, but none should be disappointed by the way this looks on DVD.
Audio: How does it sound?
You can choose between a Dolby Surround mix or a pretty decent-sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. I chose the latter and wasn’t disappointed. Though a majority of the film was dialogue-driven, there is a subtle ambiance of surround music that seems to heighten throughout the movie (perhaps leading up to the sentencing of the two killers). A few times the LFE effects kicked in and I was a bit taken back to hear such power in a movie like this. For the most part, it’s above average, but again…none should be too disappointed.
Supplements: What are the extras?
It seems that this is one of the DVD’s coming out lately that aren’t loaded with Special Features (good, my hands need the rest)! Containing some cast and crew bios and a text-based featurette entitled "The Making of the Laramie Project" is nothing more than some production notes on the film. Two featurettes are also included entitled "Featurette 1" and "Featurette 2". Featurette 1 is a very short (3:00) behind the scenes look at the film with some actors and their real life counterparts. They tell of how they made the film and of it’s importance and so forth. Featurette 2 is a look at the film at the Sundance Film Festival. We see the stars all dolled up now and even get a look at Robert Redford as he is addressing some comments about the film. While not the most feature-laded disc, it didn’t overdo it, but I was sort of hoping for and expecting a commentary track. Oh well!
