#10 The Sessions
John Hawkes. Helen Hunt. William H. Macy. Moon Bloodgood
John
Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien, a man paralysed from the neck down by
polio who decides to lose his virginity and hires a sex surrogate, Helen
Hunt to help him.
PHWOOARR!
Cue lots of sexy time, high speed chases, smutty jokes, crude teen comedy moments and a very important life lesson about meaningful relationships being more important than a knee-trembler in the back alley, especially if you're stuck in an iron lung.
Nah.
After a diet of action films, docu-dramas, musicals, gangster films and comedies, it's strange to go and see a film about a paralysed man, who spends the whole film lying down, dealing with issues that don't normally get talked about. I found it a fascinating, thought-provoking experience. John Hawkes was superb in the role as was Helen Hunt in hers. The very surprising thing about this film was that despite the full nudity, the actual sex was never presented as titillating or exploitative.
The film has some very funny moments, in particular John's ongoing conversations with his priest played by Macy, although I began to find most of the character mildly irritating.
And the ending with the cat was an emotional button-push too far!
8/10
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