Heights (film)
# Heights (film)

Heights is a 2005 American drama film directed by Chris Terrio and written by Amy Fox, based on her 2001 stage play of the same name. It follows a pivotal twenty-four hours in the interconnected lives of five New Yorkers. It stars Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Glenn Close, Jesse Bradford, and John Light. Numerous prominent actors such as Eric Bogosian, George Segal, and Isabella Rossellini appear in supporting roles.

Heights was produced by Merchant Ivory Productions. It premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2005, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on June 17, 2005, through Sony Pictures Classics.

## 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, a photographer, is having second thoughts about her engagement to Jonathan, while her award-winning actress mother Diana suspects that her husband is having an affair and thus questions the open nature of her marriage.

## Cast

* Glenn Close - Diana Lee
* Elizabeth Banks - Isabel Lee
* James Marsden - Jonathan Kestler
* Jesse Bradford - Alec Lochka
* John Light - Peter Cole
* Rufus Wainwright - Jeremy
* Denis O'Hare - Andrew
* Eric Bogosian - Henry
* George Segal - Rabbi Mendel
* Andrew Howard - Ian
* Isabella Rossellini - Liz
* Matthew Davis - Mark
* Michael Murphy - Jesse
* Chandler Williams - Juilliard Macbeth
* Bess Wohl - Juilliard Lady Macbeth
* Thomas Lennon - Marshall
* Jim Parsons - Oliver
* Angel Desai - Laura

## Release

The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, before receiving a limited theatrical release that June.

## Reception

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 104 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Yet another movie about relationships in the Big Apple, Heights is never dull thanks to a competent cast." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert 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.

### Box office

Heights grossed $1.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $0.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.3 million.

### Awards

The film received an award from the Casting Society of America for Best Independent Feature Film Casting (with the award going to James Calleri).

