Heights tells the story of five people whose lives intertwine over one day in New York City. Play like in its structure, it packs a great deal of emotion and life changing events into a 24-hour period, which is a testament to first time screenwriter Amy Fox who based the film upon her play. It also features a talented group of well-known and not so well known actors who breathe life into the drama.

Elizabeth Banks stars as Isabel, the character at the center of the story. A photographer on the verge of marriage whose experiencing second thoughts about the direction of her life. Her fiancé Jonathan (Marsden) is dealing with his own issues, which include a secret that he's kept from Isabel. Isabel's mother Diana (Close), is an awarding winning actress and director who's discovered today, her birthday, that her husband has taken another lover. Alec (Bradford), who lives in the same building as Isabel and Jonathan, has just landed an audition in Diana's latest play. And finally, Peter (Light), a British journalist on assignment in New York, discovers his own connection to the group. While the group of five varies in their personal lives and occupations, all of them are at a crossroads in their lives and will face personal choices before the sun comes up on the following day.

The sixth main character in the story is the city itself. Unlike so many movies set in New York, this one is actually filmed in the city and it shows. Several key scenes take place on the rooftops of buildings and with the city looming large in the background; you are left with the impression that this is the only place in the world where all of these characters would ever find a connection.

Apart from the sharp and intelligent script, it is the cast of actors that really make this movie shine. Close is superb as Diana, a talented actress and protective mother whose failure in her personal life is as pronounced as her success in her professional one. It's early for an Oscar mention, but she truly deserves a supporting nomination for this role. Banks, at the center of the emotional storm, also gives a riveting performance as a woman caught between her youth and her maturity. Truly though, there's not a sour performance in the bunch, right down to small and humorous part for George Segal as the Rabbi giving marital advice to Isabel and Jonathan.

Smart and satisfying, Heights manages to weave together the story of five people into one complete and highly enjoyable movie that will stay with you.

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The five main characters that Scott wrote of all have one major quality in common: None can see themselves for what they really are. All of them walk through life with blinders on to what is in their very own soul. Early in the movie, Close's character gives a speech to an acting class where she says we have all lost our passion. The characters in this movie have all lost their passion because they have strayed from the path their lives were meant to take.

Isabel wants to get married only to hide from her mother and her failings. Jonathan wants to get married to keep his secret. Diana wants to put the blame on her husband when she in fact is just as much a horn dog as he is and just as much to blame for their marriage being in crisis.

Diana likes quoting Shakespeare through out the movie. The one line she needed to say, no scream, to everyone is, "To thine own self be true." None of these people express their real desires. They all walk around acting like victims of their life. They all pretend to be something they are not.

Heights is the gayest movie this side of Brokeback Mountain. All of the main male characters are homosexuals. That is all fine and dandy except that the few straight male characters are merely stereotypes. Diana's husband is having an affair with a younger woman. Jonathan's co-worker is there just to point out cute girls and talk about a stupid boxing pen. Mark is the frat boy who never grew up. Ian is the knight in shining armor. He takes a knife for Isabel during a mugging. Except for that, Heights is a great film based around interesting, although depressing, characters.

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