Mark O'Brien has had polio since childhood, and as a result can't move any part of his body below his neck. After consulting with his priest, he decides to hire a sex surrogate to help him lose his virginity and make him a man. Obviously the lack of mobility is a problem, but surrogate Cheryl will do anything to help a client understand themselves and their bodies. Sex with no strings attached is harder than it seems.
What We Think
Reviewed by Living Destiny
Run Time: 95 minutes
Rating: R
I remember seeing the trailer for this movie a long time ago, and thinking how it was a weird concept and I would never go see it. And then I went and saw it anyway. Here's the point where I say something along the lines of I was pleasantly surprised and I can't believe how much I loved it, right? Unfortunately not. It was overly graphic and seemed to cling to shock value to keep its viewers hooked. I took a screenwriting class last year, and the teacher did a whole lesson on sex scenes, and how there are intimate ways to do them, and also brash, unnecessary ways to do them. The Sessions only ever uses the over-the-top style sex scene. And I knew there was going to be sex in the movie before I saw it, I'd seen the trailers, but it just wasn't done well. Full frontal nudity shots of Helen Hunt was not something I ever needed to see. And it wasn't necessary to move the plot forward. There were four separate "sessions", and they showed Hunt at least partially naked in all of them. It was really irritating, because they could have cropped the shots to be more modest, or added blankets, or not shown the nudity at all. We would all understand what was happening. But they had to go too big, and it made it uncomfortable, at least for me. It was too much.
I wasn't overly impressed by the acting either. Helen Hunt is up for an Oscar for this role. It isn't that good. It seems like all she does is have sex and then be sad. And it isn't convincingly sad. Anyone can cry crocodile tears. She was the weak link, acting-wise. John Hawkes did a much better job as Mark. And I didn't think that when I first saw the movie, but then I looked at his acting credits. He was in Lincoln, which I saw about a week prior to this, and I didn't recognize him at all. Hawkes has some serious acting chops. His character, Mark, was well played because he didn't incur much pity. Sure, there were times when you felt bad for him, but generally he's cracking snarky jokes. He takes life as it comes, and that's refreshing to see. William H. Macy was the star of the movie though. His character, Father Brendan, was just conflicted enough between God and his friend. It didn't consume him, it just gave him a moment's pause. He added some comedic relief at points, and he made a great friend and companion to Mark. He and Mark's nurse, a sharp witted young woman named Vera, were the most entertaining parts of the film.
This isn't a long movie. Barely over an hour and a half. I have class periods longer than that. But at times it felt long, and that's a serious issue with a movie of such short length. I found myself thinking that there were whole scenes, characters even, that could be completely cut out of the film. That could mean bad editing, or bad screenwriting, or bad acting, but it's definitely a sign that on the whole, the movie isn't good. And it's not like it's a disappointment, because I wasn't exactly expecting greatness. The points when the movie actually did something worth watching, those were the little joys. I know this is based on a true story, but I feel like they didn't do it justice. It could have been a classier, more entertaining movie. I don't know why it wasn't.
Real Teen Rating ~ D+: It passes time...barely...
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