Genre: Drama, Gay/Lesbian
Plot: New York native Chris Terrio's debut feature film, HEIGHTS, is a whirlwind of outstanding acting, excellent locations, and a unique plot filled with twists and turns. Based on Amy Fox's play, the film is set in the theater community of New York City, as diva Diana Lee (Glenn Close) prepares to portray Lady Macbeth on Broadway. She wants to cast Alec (Jesse Bradford) in a play she's directing, but a secret is preventing him from jumping at the chance to graduate from off-off-Broadway fringe roles. Meanwhile, Lee's daughter, Isabel (Elizabeth Banks), is getting ready to marry Jonathan (James Marsden), a young executive with a secret of his own. And Lee is unhappy that her husband (Phil Tabor) has chosen her understudy (Susan Malick) for his latest dalliance. All comes to a head as Peter (John Light), who has been hired by Vanity Fair to look into a famous photographer's sexual past, uncovers some surprising revelations. This gem of a film, taking place over just one day, features fine support by an eclectic group of stars, including Denis O'Hare, George Segal, Eric Bogosian, Isabella Rossellini, Rufus Wainwright, and Michael Murphy. But it is the radiant Close and the mesmerizing Banks who are the heart of Terrio's poignant, powerful
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 "Heights" is not a great movie, and makes no great point, unless it is "To thine own self be true." But director Chris Terrio, working from a screenplay by Amy Fox (based on her play), sees the characters clearly and watches them with accuracy as they occupy their delusions, or lose them.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
Despite its strengths, "Heights" is not a red-meat movie that will stick with you long, and it has its nagging imperfections -- Banks lacks credibility as a photographer because she doesn't know how to hold a camera, and the rarefied lifestyles of many characters makes it harder to identify with them. But Terrio's ability to get to the gut of how sex can fuel love or obliterate it makes the film compelling to watch. --Rob Blackwelder
The view from "Heights" is not a pretty one. With its unflinching look at modern big-city relationships, it paints a picture of people hardened by heartbreak. The movie isn't cynical, exactly, toward love, but it's certainly cautious about it.  --Eric D. Snider (eFilmCritic.com)
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| Heights isn't a bad movie, and it certainly is a clever movie, with how all the story lines converge at the end with life-changing consequences for all involved. The coincidences are too many, however, for a twenty-four hour period...There are powerful moments, but there are also moments that ring false and call out for a little irony and humor. C+ --Carlo Cavagna (AboutFilm.com)
Even so, this is a terrific movie, a convincing story of how many intertwined lives can change throughout the course of a day. 10/10--Tony Medley
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