Session Review

Lauded last year for many of its performances, while not in the running for Best Picture, was a movie called The Sessions. It's the based-of-a-true-story of a paralyzed man who can only survive for brief periods outside his iron lung, and the sex surrogate he contacts to help him lose his virginity.

The cast is indeed impressive. The main character is played by John Hawkes. He convincingly plays the weakness of his character's condition without making it seem over the top. His body is often contorted uncomfortably, his voice is devoid of any trace of power and force; and yet the character's wit and spirit are clearly intact though his body is not. In any other award year where Daniel Day-Lewis hadn't been considered a given winner for his performance, Hawkes would have been a worthy contender.

Helen Hunt plays the surrogate, and she has an interesting challenge as well. She must let the audience see that she's a therapist who may feel out of her depth with this particular patient, while at the same time honoring that the character would never let her patient see any of that discomfort or uncertainty. It's a delicate tightrope, and she walks it well. She too was a worthy Oscar nominee, and like Hawkes, was destined to lose in a category that had an unassailable front-runner: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. (Though I'd hardly have called this a "supporting" role.)

There are a number of other wonderful working actors in the film. There's William H. Macy as a priest who must struggle a bit between a more traditional interpretation of God's moral prescriptions and what seems to make more humane sense in this particular situation. Adam Arkin is intriguing as the husband of Hunt's surrogate character; the two have an interesting relationship given her job. There's also a bit of a Deadwood reunion going on the movie; in addition to John Hawkes, there are appearances by W. Earl Brown and Robin Weigert.

The movie isn't revelatory. It doesn't take any turns you aren't expecting. But there is a sweet, earnest quality about it, and it certainly has that independent film spirit in its depiction of a subject that would never be approached by mass market Hollywood filmmakers. This is, when you get down to it, an actors' film. If you like good acting in general, or any of these actors in particular, then it's well worth your time. If you find character driven films to be slow and challenging, you probably will want to skip it. I grade it a B.