''Heights'' is a 2005 Merchant Ivory Productions film that follows a pivotal twenty-four hours in the interconnected lives of five New Yorkers. It stars

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

as Isabel, a photographer, James Marsden as Jonathan, a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

lawyer and Isabel's fiancé, Glenn Close as Diana, Isabel's mother, Jesse Bradford as Alec, an actor, and John Light as Peter, a journalist. Numerous prominent actors such as Eric Bogosian,

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

, and Isabella Rossellini appear in supporting roles.

Plot

Over the course of 24 hours, a group of New Yorkers, whose lives are interconnected, must make pivotal decisions about their relationships. Most notably, Isabel (Banks), a photographer, is having second thoughts about her engagement to Jonathan (Marsden), while her award-winning actress mother Diana (Close) suspects that her husband is having an affair and thus questions the open nature of her marriage.

Cast

* Glenn Close - Diana Lee *

- Isabel Lee * James Marsden - Jonathan Kestler * Jesse Bradford - Alec Lochka * John Light - Peter Cole * Rufus Wainwright - Jeremy * Denis O'Hare - Andrew * Eric Bogosian - Henry *

- Rabbi Mendel * Andrew Howard - Ian * Isabella Rossellini - Liz *

Matthew Davis Matthew Davis, also professionally known as Matt Davis, is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in ''Legally Blonde'', Adam Hillman on the ABC comedy-drama ''What About Brian'' from 2006 to 2007 and Alari ...

- Mark * Michael Murphy - Jesse *Chandler Williams - Juilliard Macbeth * Bess Wohl - Juilliard Lady Macbeth * Thomas Lennon - Marshall * Jim Parsons - Oliver * Angel Desai - Laura

Release and reception

The film premiered at the 2005

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

before receiving a theatrical release that June. The film received generally positive reviews with a 64% fresh rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film a positive review, stating that "its chief pleasure comes through simple voyeurism. It is entertaining to see the lives of complex people become brutally simple all of a sudden. Variety noted the quality of the ensemble acting. The film received an award from the

Casting Society of America The Casting Society, formerly known as Casting Society of America (CSA), was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 as a professional society of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and ...

for Best Independent Feature Film Casting (with the award going to James Calleri).

References

External links

* * 2005 films American drama films Merchant Ivory Productions films Sony Pictures Classics films 2005 drama films 2005 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-drama-film-stub