Having suffered from polio as a young child, journalist and poet Mark O'Brien spends his entire life in an iron lung. But when he decides that he wants to lose his virginity, he enlists the help of a sex surrogate to make his wish come true, with the guidance of his carer and a priest.
'The Sessions' is a wonderful film, told with beautiful sincerity and a very wry sense of humour. Exploring the themes of physical disability and sexual desire is a very sensitive undertaking, and could so easily have been bastardised in the wrong hands. Thankfully, Ben Lewin had the right hands to place it in, and the result is a well-told, engaging film.
In my opinion, why it works so well is that Lewin manages to get a stunning (and Oscar-nominated) performance out of John Hawkes, as the physically-impaired Mark O'Brien. Hawkes is probably more famous for his darker, creepier roles in films like 'Winter's Bone' and 'Martha Marcy Mae Marlene', and this is an entire shift from those characters. O'Brien is witty, charming and utterly lovable, but he's unable to express his love because of the disability holding him back. It is such a complex character full of melancholy and frustration, and Hawkes handles it superbly. The fact that he immerses himself in the role physically, living the way O'Brien did, only adds to the strength of the performance.
It isn't just Hawkes, though. Helen Hunt as the sex surrogate is excellent, and I do think she's severely underrated as an actor. Her film roles seem to be quite few and far between, but she always delivers, as she does here. The constant full frontal nudity was also a shocker. Moon Bloodgood and William H Macy are also very good as characters which serve as background cast, but are very well-rounded.
The film wasn't hyped that much when it came out, which is a bit of a shame because I think it's excellent. I don't think there's much to dislike about the movie, and probably it's only let-down is that it didn't have a glamorous cast. But, to be fair, it's that lack of big stars which probably makes the film so good, as it becomes easier to engage with the characters. Give this film a watch if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed.
'The Sessions' is a wonderful film, told with beautiful sincerity and a very wry sense of humour. Exploring the themes of physical disability and sexual desire is a very sensitive undertaking, and could so easily have been bastardised in the wrong hands. Thankfully, Ben Lewin had the right hands to place it in, and the result is a well-told, engaging film.
In my opinion, why it works so well is that Lewin manages to get a stunning (and Oscar-nominated) performance out of John Hawkes, as the physically-impaired Mark O'Brien. Hawkes is probably more famous for his darker, creepier roles in films like 'Winter's Bone' and 'Martha Marcy Mae Marlene', and this is an entire shift from those characters. O'Brien is witty, charming and utterly lovable, but he's unable to express his love because of the disability holding him back. It is such a complex character full of melancholy and frustration, and Hawkes handles it superbly. The fact that he immerses himself in the role physically, living the way O'Brien did, only adds to the strength of the performance.
It isn't just Hawkes, though. Helen Hunt as the sex surrogate is excellent, and I do think she's severely underrated as an actor. Her film roles seem to be quite few and far between, but she always delivers, as she does here. The constant full frontal nudity was also a shocker. Moon Bloodgood and William H Macy are also very good as characters which serve as background cast, but are very well-rounded.
The film wasn't hyped that much when it came out, which is a bit of a shame because I think it's excellent. I don't think there's much to dislike about the movie, and probably it's only let-down is that it didn't have a glamorous cast. But, to be fair, it's that lack of big stars which probably makes the film so good, as it becomes easier to engage with the characters. Give this film a watch if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed.