Hi movie lovers! This time I’m reviewing a very unusual movie called The Sessions, shown as a Spotlight Film recently.
This was called The Surrogate originally and the movie came out in 2012.
This was a very surprising, interesting and amusing movie about a polio victim (played by John Hawkes) in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity before he dies. This is based on an essay by Mark O’Brien and was written and directed by Ben Lewis.
Helen Hunt, Hawkes and William H. Macy star and are all very good.
Hunt was nominated at this year’s Oscars for her role as a best supporting actress. She had to appear semi-nude in many scenes and they were done with much taste.
Macy plays the part of a priest to whom our protagonist visits and declares his desire for sex.
At first the priest is slightly shocked and not sure what to tell him. There are many humorous lines in this film and as the subject is a tricky one, I have to admire how it came across, at least to me.
It traces the burgeoning relationship between Hunt’s character Cheryl Cohen-Greene and Hawkes’ character Mark O’Brien and as the therapist is happily married, this was difficult to say the least. The acting is very good; I do not know Hawkes, never having seen him before, but he did a grand job. I won’t give the whole story away, suffice to say it is uplifting in every way possible and most believable.
I have never seen Hunt in a state of undress before but it takes guts and she is not a young woman but is in very good shape and acts the part so well.
There is a copy of this fine movie at the Grand Forks Pawn Shop on Central Avenue should anyone be interested, I would encourage you to give it a watch especially on these very hot afternoons. Good movie watching everyone.
– Liz Martin is a film critic for the Grand Forks Gazette, a movie lover, cello player and happy retiree