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With wit and sympathy, Heights traces the crossed paths and messy lives of New York theater people, journalists, and artists. At the middle of everything is Isabel (Elizabeth Banks, The Sisters), a struggling photographer whose mother, Diana (Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons), is the grand dame of the theater world. Isabel's fiance, Jonathan (James Marsden, X-Men), is being pursued by a writer for Vanity Fair about his relationship with a lionized photographer. Meanwhile, Diana, though married, casts her eye on a young actor named Alec (Jesse Bradford, Happy Endings), who lives in the same building as Isabel... This only begins to unravel the tangle, but a clever script, clean direction, and nicely pitched performances keep Heights from tripping over its own plot lines or sagging into soap opera. Close, in particular, has a blast doing an uncanny Meryl Streep impression, and deft supporting performances by Isabella Rosselini (Blue Velvet), Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio), George Segal (California Split), and musician Rufus Wainwright keep the edges of the stories lively. Heights doesn't achieve the emotional fullness of the best of Robert Altman's ensemble movies, but it stakes a claim in that cinematic territory. --Bret Fetzer
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