Laramie Project

UPC: 026359189722

Studio: HBO Home Video

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity, Watch With Your Teen]

Summary: Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000, and was performed in Laramie in the fall of that year, two years after Kaufman and his associates first arrived in the city. The Laramie Project is a film adaptation of Kaufman's play, in which the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, The Laramie Project was adapted for the screen by Moises Kaufman, who served as both writer and director. The distinguished cast includes Dylan Baker, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Janeane Garofolo, Laura Linney, Amy Madigan, Camryn Manheim, Christina Ricci, and Frances Sternhagen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: PREMIERE First Movie Award - Special Mention – Berlin International Film Festival Best Cable TV Film – National Board of Review

Features: ccTwo featurettes
Chapter selection
Cast & director bios
The making of "The Laramie Project"

Laramie Project

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 06/25/2002

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 96 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Arriving in Laramie [3:02]
2. Remembering Matthew [6:38]
3. A Wyoming Queer [2:34]
4. Karaoke Night [2:28]
5. The Statement of Facts [2:29]
6. Media Coverage [2:01]
7. "What Were You Thinking?" [3:51]
8. Exposed to HIV [3:00]
9. Nationwide Vigil [2:16]
10. A Gay Lifestyle [4:14]
11. The Parade Tag [3:42]
12. Religious Perspective [1:28]
13. Funeral [3:22]
14. State Vs. Russell Henderson [2:08]
15. Guardian Angels [1:39]
16. State Vs. Aaron McKinney [6:23]
17. Sparkling Lights [3:33]
18. End Credits [3:38]

Brian J. Dillard

Innovative, mournful, and politically charged, this piece of journalistic theater translates powerfully to the screen. Helmed by its original stage director, cinematic newcomer Moises Kaufman, The Laramie Project manages not only to sidestep the obvious emotions milked by TV movies about the Matthew Shepard case, but also to reject all of their hackneyed techniques. Compiled by the Tectonic Theater Project from hundreds of hours of interviews with the residents of Laramie, WY, where Shepard was murdered, the film is more of a sociological interrogation than a dramatic story. Fragmentary and spare, the material benefits enormously from Kaufman's precise pacing, judicious use of split screens and wide-open exteriors, and sensitive direction of a motley Hollywood cast. Christina Ricci has one of the punchiest roles as Romaine Patterson, Shepard's fiery lesbian best friend, but even Laura Linney, in just one extended scene and a few snippets, manages to nail one particular outlook and set of responses, contributing to the mosaic of individual thoughts and emotions that make up the piece. Performers as diverse as '60s survivor Peter Fonda and Dawson's Creek teenybopper Joshua Jackson exhibit the same careful attention to craft. Amy Madigan deserves special mention for her grave cop role, which scans like Frances McDormand's part in Fargo drained of its humor and Minnesota kitsch. One of the few moments that rankles is the inclusion of actual news reports from the time of the murder; there's enough leftie celebrity glitz involved in the casting without seeing the real-life Ellen DeGeneres in footage of a vigil. Such minor quibbles aside, this is the most powerful film produced about the Shepard murder -- a stunning achievement considering the young man himself never appears. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Stephen Belber  Actor 
Tom Bower  Actor 
Kathleen Chalfant  Actor 
Andrew Paris  Screenwriter 
Kelli Simpkins  Screenwriter 
Amanda Gronich  Screenwriter 
Ted Hope  Executive Producer 
Declan Baldwin  Producer 
Ross Katz  Executive Producer 
Anne Carey  Executive Producer 
Stephen Belber  Screenwriter 
Greg Pierotti  Screenwriter 
Barbara Pitts  Screenwriter 
John McAdams  Screenwriter 
Peter Cane  Executive Producer 
Leigh Fondakowski  Screenwriter 
Roy Gabay  Executive Producer 
Moises Kaufman  Director 
Moises Kaufman  Screenwriter 
Jeffrey LaHoste  Screenwriter 
Stephen Wangh  Screenwriter 
Peter Golub  Composer (Music Score) 
Christina Ricci  Actor 
Peter Fonda  Actor 
Janeane Garofalo  Actor 
Steve Buscemi  Actor 
Dylan Baker  Actor 
Amy Madigan  Actor 
Joshua Jackson  Actor 
Jeremy Davies  Actor 
Clea Duvall  Actor 
Michael Emerson  Actor 
Nestor Carbonell  Actor 
Clancy Brown  Actor 
Noah Fleiss  Actor 
Ben Foster  Actor 
Amanda Gronich  Actor 
Mercedes Herrero  Actor 
Bill Irwin  Actor 
Terry Kinney  Actor 
Laura Linney  Actor 
Camryn Manheim  Actor 
Margo Martindale  Actor 
John McAdams  Actor 
James Murtaugh  Actor 
Andrew Paris  Actor 
Summer Phoenix  Actor 
Greg Pierotti  Actor 
Barbara Pitts  Actor 
Richard Riehle  Actor 
Kelli Simpkins  Actor 
Lois Smith  Actor 
Frances Sternhagen  Actor 
Mark Webber  Actor 

Country: USA