“Just tell me I’m not right.”

From 55 Steps.

In 1985, Eleanor Reise (Helena Bonham Carter), a patient at San Francisco’s St. Mary’s mental hospital, makes a decision that will change American psychiatric health forever.  After repeatedly being given medication against her will, regardless of the adverse reaction it causes her, Eleanor reaches out to Patient Rights Advocates to hire a lawyer.  The lawyer that takes Eleanor’s case is Collette Hughes (Hilary Swank), a nurse-turned-lawyer whose care for patients as individuals makes her a force to be reckoned with.  Collette begins by getting Eleanor released and she then reaches out to law professor, Mort Cohen (Jeffrey Tambor), to be the first chair on the case, and he agrees to take on what they both know will be a long and difficult case.  Facing substantial resistance from St. Mary’s doctors and their high power lawyer, Mort and Collette begin to build a case that proves Eleanor’s inability to refuse medication has caused her long-lasting harm.  While her boyfriend, Robert (Johan Heldenbergh), tries to keep Collette from allowing herself to be overwhelmed by her commitment to the case, she continues to pour herself into Eleanor’s case.  Facing painful bladder and foot issues because of the medication she has been forced to take, Eleanor pushes Collette to not give up both in her professional and personal life.  As the months drag on, Eleanor and Colette form a friendship fortified by Eleanor’s spunky kindness and Colette’s perseverance, and that friendship will give them the strength to forge ahead on their life-changing court case.

Inspired by the amazing true story, this story is full of heart and humor.  Swank and Carter play vastly different characters, but when sharing the screen, the two talented actresses bring an unforgettable story to life.  Some of the content can be difficult to watch, but the humanity that Carter brings to the role makes the painful situations bearable.  Definitely a must-watch movie, 55 Steps is a powerfully moving story that will stay with the viewers  long after the credits roll.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 115 minutes |Genre: drama/biography|

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 2 of 10|Nudity: 1 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|PLAYING IN THEATERS|