Sara Friedman’s HEIGHTENED employs a great cast in its quirky to serious look at a young woman overcoming her extreme OCD and social anxiety
The first thing that really got me about Sara Friedman ‘s Heightened was the main character’s dad. He looked so familiar. It took me about an hour and ten minutes into the movie to release who he was. He was the traitor Secret Service agent in Air Force One (1997) and he was John Connor’s foster father in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
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The same thing happened when I saw him in Taken (2008). I saw him play the new boyfriend and thought to myself, “That guy looks familiar.”
Sara Friedman’s HEIGHTENED employs a great cast
His name is Xander Berkeley, and he gives a stellar performance in Heightened (2022) as Oscar – the main character Nora’s father.
There was also Mike Mitchell, who played one of the park rangers. I knew him well from the movie Tomorrow War (2021) – a movie many loved to hate. But, I really liked the movie. Oh, and there was Dave Register, who played the main character Dusty. I knew him because I wrote a review of Fallout for this very site.
If I say I recognized Sarah Clarke (who played the mother) because she was also the mother in the Twilight series, then I would have to admit that I watched the Twilight series. But, I have an excuse, I swear. My wife was on Team Jacob and really looked forward to him taking his shirt off.
Back to the story of Sara Friedman’s HEIGHTENED
Oh yeah, back to the story of Heightened… The movie started off with a very quirky feel, focusing on Nora (the main character) dealing with her extreme OCD and social anxiety, similar to The Promotion (2008), Ten Items Or Less (2006), Ghost World (2001), and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004). Dusty’s and Nora’s relationship throughout the film had a Mark Twain element to it, but with something empowering to it as well. I’m happy that Sara Friedman (the writer/director who also played Nora) had her not just comb her hair or look at magazines as she did nothing while Dusty worked.
The scenes were framed with massive talent, and the camera work was amazing. The way some scenes helped the viewer feel the emotional distance between characters sometimes and how wide open nature was confined at other times to bring Nora and Dusty closer added to the movie is a brilliant way.
The movie takes its time (in terms of pacing), but it works with the subject matter. The quirky movies I compared Heightened with all had a deliberate pace to them.
There was some interesting imagery when it came to the lighthouse, especially if you’ve ever read Virginia Woolfe. And there were the references to lobsters, which are interesting if you’ve ever heard Phoebe’s view of lobsters from Friends. But the movie is set in Maine, so the lighthouse was probably just a lighthouse and I’m sure you could throw a rock in Maine and hit a few lobster restaurants…or, lobsters even.
Then, at a certain point into the movie, the tone changed and the movie took on a more serious tone.
The whole idea of the depressing middle class has always been something that has hit me hard because of my upbringing. Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections (and the 2012 movie adapted from the novel), Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road (and the 2008 movie adapted from the novel), and Judith Guest’s Ordinary People (and the 1980 movie adapted from the novel…okay, I’m sure you’re sensing a theme here) all came to mind. Those novels and movies were three that I could never finish – not because they were bad, but because they hit too close to home.
In my opinion, Heightened did much better with portraying the haunting middle class, so I could easily get through the more serious parts of the movie.
Overall, Heightened was very good. I really enjoyed it. As a screenwriter, I write a lot of very confined stories that focus on the relationship between two or three people, so I got a lot of inspiration from this film. Sara Friedman seems like she would be great to work with. I bet she and I could write something great together. I’m not just saying this because I’m trying to sell a screenplay. I would like to work with her.
Sara, get in contact with me. I’d love to talk about movies with you. Maybe Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke could join us for lunch or something?
Heightened is available on most streaming platforms.