The Laramie Project

The brutal attack on Matthew Shepard was the kind of wakeup call a society doesn’t get very often. It triggered an avalanche of media attention and a somber national “deathwatch” for Shepard to his death five days later. The Laramie Project is the response of playwright Moisés Kaufman and his colleagues at the Tectonic Theater Project, who went to Laramie, Wyoming, and conducted more than 200 interviews with townspeople and officials. This film, a wonderfully crafted, deeply felt inquiry into hate, homophobia and the thoughts and feelings of a small-town community, is the result. The sterling cast, literally the top rank of independent film talent, includes Steve Buscemi, Christina Ricci, Laura Linney, Summer Phoenix, Camryn Manheim, Jeremy Davies, Clea Duvall and Janeane Garofalo. But The Laramie Project is no superficial exercise in self-righteous condemnation. It attempts in very human ways – through re-enactment and introspection – to come to terms with this devastating tragedy. –Outfest