Movie Musings: The Sessions

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I'm on a roll with the nominated movies this week! Thursday afternoon I saw "The Sessions" at the West Newton Cinema.

"The Sessions" stars John Hawkes, who I was first introduced to via "Winter's Bone," the same film that made Jennifer Lawrence famous. In this role he plays Mark O'Brien, a 38 year old man suffering from side effects of childhood polio.

Mark spends all but three hours of his day, every day, inside an iron lung. Though he is not technically paralyzed, he has no control over his muscles. Despite that, his mind is sharp and in his professional life he's a poet.

Mark gets approached by a newspaper to write about people with disabilities and sex. He begins by interviewing others, but eventually decides to enlist a sex therapist to help him experience his own personal sexual revolution.

Mark's sex therapist is played by Helen Hunt. I honestly can't think of the last time I saw Helen Hunt in a movie. Was it "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson? In this role, Hunt plays Cheryl, a woman committed to helping her clients reclaim their sexual prowess. In the story Cheryl is supposed to be from Salem, MA and Hunt does a pathetic Boston accent. She basically only speaks in the accent when she says "Mark" (pronounced "Mahk").

In all of her scenes, Hunt immediately disrobes - we're talking full frontal nudity - and carefully slides into bed next to Mark. Over the course of their sessions, she coaches him on how to discover what's pleasurable, how to sustain that feeling and how to make his excitement last. Not surprisingly, in this process, Mark falls for Cheryl. What was surprising is that Cheryl also falls for him.

Though the story centers around Mark and Cheryl, there is one other character that deserves a mention, Vera, Mark's assistant. Vera, played by Moon Bloodgood (yes, that's her real name), is stoic but unconditionally supportive of Mark. She wheels him on a gurney to all of his appointments and to buy new clothes to impress Cheryl. For those who saw the movie, my favorite Vera scenes are the ones where she talks with the motel clerk while she waits for Mark and Cheryl. Her deadpan delivery makes for several laugh out loud moments.

John Hawkes is unequivocally the star of "The Sessions." How he contorted his body like that and portrayed that disability with such conviction, I will never know. As Mark he was kind, funny and vulnerable. You truly rooted for him.

John is nominated for "Best Actor" at the upcoming Golden Globe awards along with Daniel Day-Lewis of "Lincoln." John actually had a supporting role in "Lincoln" so he is going up against a fellow cast member.

If you saw both movies, who do you think deserves the best actor statue - John Hawkes or Daniel Day-Lewis?

*Images courtesy of Fox Searchlight and TV Guide.