Sundance review: 'The Case Against 8'

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"The Case Against 8"

U.S. Documentary

*** 1/2 (three and a half stars)

In the absorbing documentary "The Case Against 8," inside access illuminates the high drama within the case that overturned California's anti-gay-marriage law, Prop. 8. Directors Ben Cotner and Ryan White split the film evenly between the legal arguments made by the pro-gay-marriage side's odd-couple lawyers, Ted Olsen and David Boies, and the personal stories of the two couples who became the case's plaintiffs. The plaintiffs' stories are touching, while the legal arguments drive the intellectual fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Cotner and White get inside the law firm's meetings and family discussions behind this landmark civil-rights case whose repercussions are being felt in Utah and nationwide.

— Sean P. Means

"The Case Against 8" screens again at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival: Monday at 8:30 p.m. at The MARC, Park City; Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Redstone Cinema 2, Park City; Friday at 9 a.m. at the Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City; and Saturday, Jan. 25, at 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City.