Shepard films tackle tough subject with tact

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 7, 2002 | by Warren Epstein

I always think it's weird when TV shows or movies jump on the same subjects, be they O.J. or killer comets.

TV producers always say these things are coincidental, but you have to wonder if there isn't some corporate spying and copycatting going on.

This month, the coincidental subject is Matthew Shepard, the gay college student killed in 1998 in Laramie, Wyo.

Both HBO and NBC will present movies about him, and although both movies climax with a gut-wrenching court-room speech by Shepard's father, the two films take vastly different approaches.

HBO's movie, "The Laramie Project," which airs at 6 p.m. Saturday, is more edgy and experimental. Based on a theater project that debuted in Denver, "The Laramie Project" looks like a documentary about how this Western town dealt with the tragedy and its aftermath.

But instead of featuring the actual townspeople, the movie has actors spouting their words.

Members of a New York theater troupe gathered more than 400 hours of interviews to create this documentary-like thing.

It's an interesting approach, and though it's a little jarring at first to see the familiar faces of Steve Buscemi, Christina Ricci and Janeane Garofalo in Laramie, they probably brought more drama to the material than the actual townsfolk could have.

Sometimes the gimmick draws so much attention to itself that it takes away from the story and its message.

But the approach also offers some unexpected emotional payoffs. In one of my favorite scenes, an interviewer (Clea Duvall) records the comments of a Baptist preacher who says he hopes Matthew had time, while he was dying, to reflect on his evil lifestyle.

Afterward, we see the interviewer cry, "I let him say that!"

NBC's "The Matthew Shepard Story," which airs at 8 p.m. on March 16, takes a more conventional made-for-TV-movie approach. It tends to be overly melodramatic at times, but it gives us more insight into the real Matthew Shepard and what he went through as a gay man in the West.

Sam Waterston ("Law & Order") gives what may be an Emmy-winning performance as Shepard's father, a man forced to re-examine his own feelings about homosexuality. Stockard Channing ("The West Wing") gives a much less focused performance as his mother.

I went to Laramie recently to talk to people about their town and the films, and I ran into gay activist Jim Osborn, who was a friend of Matthew.

Osborn liked the HBO film, but it was the NBC one that got to him the most.

"Watching the movie wasn't easy, though I wasn't really expecting it to be," he said. "Even after three and a half years, it's still hard to think about the raw brutality of that night. The opening sequence is probably the most horrifyingly realistic portrayal of the actual attack.

"It doesn't gloss over the severity as some other depictions have."

He told me Waterston and Channing really reminded him of Dennis and Judy Shepard, and some of their dialogue actually sounded familiar, like things he might have heard them say in their living room.

"I was also pleased to see that they cast someone (Shane Meier) who reminded me of Matt in stature and demeanor," Osborn said.

He was afraid the writers would turn his friend Matthew into a saint or a shallow symbol. He was pleasantly surprised.

"It showed Matt as a person, not just as an event or a victim," Osborn said.

Compared with MTV's well-intentioned but one-dimensional special, "Anatomy of a Hate Crime," Osborn thought NBC's movie shows real depth, compassion and complexity in approaching an issue that so many Americans are still coming to grips with.

"It showed a parent's loving struggle to come to terms with their son's sexuality, a process that takes time and patience for so many."

After watching "The Matthew Shepard Story" and "The Laramie Project" and spending some time in Laramie, I feel I know Shepard, and I better understand what he's come to represent to the town and the rest of the world.

I recommend both movies.

Where'd they go?

Some of my favorite TV and radio personalities have recently gone MIA.

Here's what's happening:

Our "friend and neighbor" Vicky Gregor, the morning radio personality on KRCC (91.5 FM), has taken a leave of absence to spend time with her baby daughter. She plans to return in January.

DJ and promotions director Kevin Wilz from KKCS (101.9 FM), who'd also worked at both KKFM and KVUU, recently left to take care of his elderly father in Oklahoma City.

KRDO co-anchor Kelly Schulz is on a medical leave, and she's expected to return in a month or so.

Parting shot

My column Tuesday about KKTV/Channel 11 reporter Jeff Marcu included what I thought was a funny comment about the part in Marcu's hair.

It was a cheap shot, but I thought it said something about how viewers see TV reporters.

But it turns out that Marcu's hair is parted on the side, not in the middle.

I'm glad we have the record straight on that.

Another reason to get a dish

Starz and Black Starz premium channels are offering a free preview weekend Friday through Sunday.

But Adelphia cable customers won't get it. (You're missing "Bamboozled," "Unbreakable," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and a whole lot more.)