Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

How does it happen that a small town in the least populous state in the union becomes the eye of a media storm and an international debate? It seems so unlikely. It seems unlikely until you hear the names “Laramie, Wyoming” and “Matthew Shepard”. It was in this small town in the middle of this sparsely inhabited state on the night of October 6, 1998 that two young men bound Matthew Shepard to a fence, beat him and left him to die under the wide open western sky. At that moment, life in Laramie changed forever as the town became the center of a fierce debate over homosexuality and hate crimes.

The Laramie Project takes a hard, but not indignant, look at this town. Originally a stage production, the film is a combination of documentary and drama – but one that entirely escapes the voyeuristic, movie-of-the-week categorization of “Docudrama”. Not long after the crime, playwright Moisés Kaufman and a group of actors from his Tectonic Theater Project traveled from New York City to Laramie, looking for answers. Not answers to the questions being asked by the omnipresent, rabid national and international media, but answers about the town and the people who lived there. While everyone else was asking “why?” the Tectonic Theater Project was asking “who?” Who were the people that lived in this town? They spent months, interviewed hundreds of people and witnessed the best and worst of human nature while trying to get to know and understand this community. The result is a film that supports some easy assumptions and soundly refutes others, puts faces on the people of this town and hammers home (without ever being preachy) the fact that nothing is ever what it seems from the outside.

Kaufman essentially transforms interview and other media transcripts into a film. The group went to Laramie, did the interviews and then made a production using actors to portray the townspeople and others involved in the events. In fact, even the filmmakers are played by actors, as we see the group talking with people. Also included are some re-enactments of the events leading up to the beating, as well as the aftermath and even some actual news footage from those horrible days. The entire conglomerate leads to a surprisingly cogent whole. The mixture of interview with re-enactment works amazingly well. We end up with a really honest look at a town torn apart by a crime committed by “some of its own”.

The use of actors was, of course, necessary when this was a stage production. In the film version it serves a purpose beyond that of simple logistics. These people are allowed to speak their minds, tell their stories and reveal parts of themselves without the onus of rolling cameras to make them reticent. I strongly suspect that even though they knew their words would be used verbatim, it was easier to be honest knowing that they themselves would not have to repeat those words in front of the whole world. From the most hateful to the most heart-wrenching, these are words of people who speak what they feel is the truth. Confusion, denial, outrage (directed at a variety of sources) and a palpable sense of shame and sadness that their community could be stained by such vicious hatred are all on display.

Something amazing happened during the making of The Laramie Project. This small, relatively closed-mouthed town came alive. Those who had before hidden out of fear or uncertainty came together. It seems that Laramie has a sizable (relatively) gay population that had never before seen themselves as a “community”. That they united in fear and anger and sadness is tragic, that they united at all is one of the “goods” that sometimes come from “evil”. In fact, most of the community came together – those actively “opposed to the homosexual lifestyle”, those proclaiming no particular position one way or another, those who strongly supported the gay community – all were shocked and devastated that this crime was perpetrated in their town, by young men who were born and raised there. As one woman states, “Nobody deserves that, I don’t care who you are.” Underlying the bigotry inherent in the statement is also a humanity that understands that beating someone to death is not an acceptable means of expressing one’s disapproval.

Unfortunately, Laramie didn’t get a chance to assimilate these events and mourn as a community. The media, as well as the likes of rabid gay-basher Fred Phelps, descended on them with such ferocity that all discussion abruptly ceased. These were people that desperately needed to talk about their community, but were instead surrounded by reporters shoving microphones in their faces and looking for the most incendiary sound bite they could force from a bunch of small town ranchers. They got their wish. A lot of people ended up, in the eyes of the mainstream press, looking like raging bigots or small town dupes without a clue as to how their own prejudice had created the atmosphere that led to this crime. This is an unfair portrayal of a bunch of shell-shocked people who were trying to work through their own feelings and were ambushed by the manipulations of an unfeeling and uncaring industry looking only for the most inflammatory story. When given the opportunity to really take some time and talk – to the Tectonic Theater Group - their confusion is obvious. Many of them wonder how their town could have raised these men, how their “live and let live” philosophy could have taken such an ugly turn. Often they don’t see their own contradictions as they talk about “disagreeing with the gay lifestyle” and “being fine as long as the gays leave me alone” in one breath and expressing puzzlement over how these young men could have grown into such hatred in the next. Some are plain bigots, some are the opposite, and many more are simply horrified by the entire incident. And sometimes support, enlightenment and the utmost common sense comes from the very most unexpected places. What they are not is some homogeneous concentration of all that is ugly and bigoted in this country.

The actors – all of whom donated their time and talents to this project - deserve recognition for their performances. First and foremost is Nestor Carbonell as Kaufman. He’s come a long way since his days on television’s Suddenly Susan and he is the cog around which the rest of the film turns. Amy Madigan is both fierce and heartbreaking as the police officer first on the scene. Laura Linney takes on the thankless role of one of the more clueless bigots, while Christina Ricci and Frances Sternhagen show a more open side of Laramie. Janeane Garafalo as the single out-of-the-closet lesbian in Laramie at the time of Shepard’s death underscores how frightening it was to be gay in that town at that time. And Terry Kinney as Shepard’s father is simply outstanding. Outstanding. There are scores of other actors here you will recognize, in parts both big and small. Their presence is not what makes the movie great, it’s their words – the words of others channeled through these talented people wanting only to help us all understand this place, if only just a little.

Two small quibbles. I found the musical score to be a little too loud, a little too melodramatic and a little too overpowering in places. The film doesn’t need that, the power is there without having to artificially ramp it up a notch. Also, it can be a bit distracting to play “name the actor”. There are lots of familiar faces here – lots and lots and lots. This only lasts a short time, though – until the film sweeps you up into its world. Minor quibbles at best – nothing that really mars the film.

The Laramie Project is not a film abut Matthew Shepard. In fact, no one portrays him, his picture is never shown. This is a film about what the death of Matthew Shepard did to the small town he called home. Remarkably, his legacy is not (only) one of the hatred and bigotry that led to his horrifying death, but of the communication and a new sense of openness that followed. Laramie learned a lot about itself in the months following the murder and fortunately for us, Moisés Kaufman had the foresight, tenacity and humanity to show us the good along with the bad in this much maligned town. On a personal note, I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes for much of the film. Not because of any grisly images or scripted emotional manipulation – but because it’s horribly sad and frightening to realize how ingrained bigotry can be. How insidious and desperately dangerous a beast it truly is – and that it surrounds us, no matter where we live. Watching this town react to that reality is heartbreaking. There is no question that the violent death of Matthew Shepard is a blight which the people of Laramie – as well as the rest of us – will have to live with forever. Hopefully we can all take something from it and make things better. The Laramie Project gives us all the chance to do exactly that. Take that chance. Please, take that chance.







*This review is part of the gay and lesbian culture write off hosted this year by Stephen_Murray. It’s tremendously late, for which I apologize. The truth is that I had a hard time writing the review. The film deserves more than just words. It simply deserves to be seen.*


Recommended: Yes