The Sessions

Name: The Sessions
Genre: Drama
Released: October 19, 2012
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Helen Hunt, John Hawkes, William H. Macy

2012

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Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 100 Ratings

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7.6

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The Sessions

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Movie Details & Credits

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 19, 2012 | R

Starring: Helen Hunt, John Hawkes, William H. Macy

Summary: The Sessions tells the story of a man confined to an iron lung who is determined at age 38 to lose his virginity. With the help of his therapists and the guidance of his priest, he sets out to make his dream a reality. (Fox Searchlight)

Director: Ben Lewin

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Mike Scott

Nov 16, 2012

The result is a human drama that quietly argues that the gift of life isn't one to be taken lightly. Read full review

Marc Mohan

Nov 1, 2012

John Hawkes has, until now, been known primarily as the skilled character actor who brought an earthy authenticity to roles on TV's "Deadwood" and the Oscar-nominated "Winter's Bone." With The Sessions, he makes his mark as a bona fide member of screen acting's elite. And he does it while barely moving a muscle. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Oct 25, 2012

John Hawkes is wonderful as O'Brien, as is Helen Hunt as the surrogate whose sessions with O'Brien form the crux of the film. The results are extremely moving and, in general, low on egregiously yanked heartstrings or the usual biopic filler. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Oct 13, 2012

At once entirely frank and downright cuddly in the way it deals with the seldom-visited subject of the sex lives of people with disabilities, this well-acted and constructed film will, at the very least, turn the spotlight on this unusual topic. Read full review

Ellen E. Jones

Oct 17, 2012

Aided by committed, awards-ready performance, The Sessions transforms 'taboo' subject matter into a humorous, humane and uncomplicated pleasure. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Oct 25, 2012

The Sessions is moving. At times, it's even erotic, which is unexpected, to say the least. It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life. Read full review

Joe Neumaier

Oct 18, 2012

It's strange to call a film with so much nudity and simulated sex "old-fashioned," but The Sessions nicely bridges that gulf. Read full review

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User Reviews

amboy

Dec 20, 2012

If you are avoiding this movie because it's about a man in an iron lung and a sex therapist, don't. It has everything--humor, intelligence, and universality. The writing has not one false note. And if I ever see a performance as superb as Helen Hunt's, it will probably be given by Helen Hunt.

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

MediaboyMusings

Oct 19, 2012

The Sessions, starring John Hawkes (Winter's Bone and Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Helen Hunt, is probably the best film I've seen so far this year. Originally titled The Surrogate when it played at the Sundance Film Festival in January and took home a couple of awards, Hawkes playsThe Sessions, starring John Hawkes (Winter's Bone and Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Helen Hunt, is probably the best film I've seen so far this year. Originally titled The Surrogate when it played at the Sundance Film Festival in January and took home a couple of awards, Hawkes plays real-life writer Mark O'Brien, who was confined to a gurney or iron lung for most of his life due to polio. The plot is fairly straightforward: the combination of a lifetime mostly devoid of any intimacy and an upcoming writing job on the sex lives of the disabled leads the 38-year-old O'Brien to hire a sex surrogate named Cheryl (played by Hunt) to help him lose his virginity, with guidance coming from his local priest (played by William H. Macy).

Hawkes is a revelation, delivering a graceful and affecting performance with essentially no physicality, as he spends the entire film flat on his back and relying almost entirely on his facial performance and voice, which he affects with a slightly nasally tone. Based on his work here, I believe I'll have to go back and revisit the Oscar-nominated performance he gave in Winter's Bone, a film that bored me so much that I bailed out of it about three quarters of the way through. His Mark character is a warm, wickedly funny charmer that will quickly win viewers over (and not out of sympathy for his disability). Occasional voice-overs where Hawkes reads selections of O'Brien's poetry (it's not remotely as painful as it might sound) nicely provide some thoughtful extra insight into his worldview, mostly involving the topic of love. The path leading up to his decision to hire the surrogate introduces us to Macy's fantastic Father Brendan character, who gives Mark his blessing and becomes a source of counsel, friendship, and laughs throughout the rest of the film. Mark also gets encouragement from his two caregivers, including one played in an excellent supporting performance from Moon Bloodgood. Hunt, who has appeared less onscreen in recent years to focus more on directing and theatre work, matches Hawkes' standout work step-for-step, instilling a dignity and compassion to Cheryl as she educates Mark in the ways of physical intimacy. Those teachings tastefully deconstruct the act of sex and all the awkwardness and uncertainty that goes along with it (she also bravely appears completely nude quite a few times). Slivers of Cheryl's home life with her son and husband (played by Adam Arkin) offer just enough of a look into her own growing conflict, which I won't spoil here. Director/writer Ben Lewin, a polio survivor himself, has crafted one of those rare knockout cinematic pieces of work that'll hit you about halfway through watching just how special it is. His efforts and a number of first-rate performances should easily succeed in winning your deep emotional investment in The Sessions, which treats a potentially fragile subject with an admirable maturity and a surprisingly pleasant amount of disarming humour.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

cnrcnr

Jan 23, 2013

Biggest surprise of the year, seen it on a complete whim, and never expected it to be that good! Helen Hunt is amazing and doesn't fail to deliver a very believable performance. the film is written brilliantly, and comes across so real and honest, rather like your watching a documentary.Biggest surprise of the year, seen it on a complete whim, and never expected it to be that good! Helen Hunt is amazing and doesn't fail to deliver a very believable performance. the film is written brilliantly, and comes across so real and honest, rather like your watching a documentary. John Hawkes has played this part beautifully and you really do believe this man severely disabled... But, I think this part was written for Sean Penn and the only slight downside to this is John Hawkes does look and sound and act like Penn and it feels he was chosen for his likeness to Penn rather than his talent. The Sessions feels like it wont achieve anything, but after the first 30 minutes it really grips you. All in all a great story made into an even greater film.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

BHBarry

Dec 28, 2012

The Sessions" is not an easy film to either watch or review. If education and insight into the plight of the severely disabled is a worthy and constructive endeavor, then this film certainly meets that goal. If, however, the aim of a film is to afford the viewer the opportunity to relax andThe Sessions" is not an easy film to either watch or review. If education and insight into the plight of the severely disabled is a worthy and constructive endeavor, then this film certainly meets that goal. If, however, the aim of a film is to afford the viewer the opportunity to relax and simply enjoy or experience the life or lives of others without feeling uncomfortable, then, of course, this movie will not be to the viewer's liking. Although in the same genre as "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (about a quadrapalegic who cannot speak but only blink to communicate), this film is much more than that since its character can, through his wit and intelligence, speak and communicate his thoughts and, as one of the actors in the film tells her "healthy" mate, "He (the disabled subject) is more of a man than you". Based on the true story of poet and journalist Mark O'Brien and his desire, at age 38, to experience sex for the first time in his life, John Hawkes ((in the leading role) ably assisted by therapist Helen Hunt and priest William H. Macy, conveys to the audience the efforts by this prisoner in an iron lung to move forward despite his incarceration. Difficult at times to experience the film's message, for me at least, is that the power of the mind can meet and, yes, even overcome. the physical burdens, obstacles and pitfalls that the fates place in life's path. Mr. Hawkes' character plays the hand that life dealt him with charm, humor and intelligence and, to that end, he and the real life person he portrays is to be admired and respected. I give an 8.5 rating for not only its message but for the skilled and sensitive manner in which this most difficult subject is treated.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

nutterjr

Feb 14, 2013

A brave film with truly remarkable performance from John Hawkes who continues to impress in his recent outings. And he does it while barely moving a muscle. Helen Hunt bares all (literally and otherwise) in a film that has poses philosophical questions on social and emotional levels.A brave film with truly remarkable performance from John Hawkes who continues to impress in his recent outings. And he does it while barely moving a muscle. Helen Hunt bares all (literally and otherwise) in a film that has poses philosophical questions on social and emotional levels. However, if you peel away the memorable performances, there is little else to say about the film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Shiira

Jan 7, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mark O'Brien never figured out how to be lovable. Sentenced to live and die in an iron lung after contacting polio as a child, the poet/journalist, weighing sixty pounds when Jessica Yu filmed her documentary short Breathing Lessons, was, as a matter of fact, a grotesquerie. Had this physically compromised man found romantic love with a normal woman in real life, it would have indeed been stranger than fiction. Cheryl Ward, the sex surrogate who worked with Mark, did not retrieve a love poem from the garbage can; did not leave an envelope of money lying on the dashboard
because she felt like a cheap hooker being compensated for services rendered; did not fall for her client. The Sessions is a lie, bolstering the myth that, in O'Briens own words: "If you become disabled, you can overcome it by working hard." The Sessions doesn't prepare you for the sight of Mark's gaunt, abstract body, a spectacle that would have landed him in the freak shows of yore, not in somebody's boudoir. In order for an audience to believe that Cheryl could develop a romantic bond with Mark, his physique had to fall on the right side of repulsion. If O'Brien's body was accurately depicted, the women in the writer's life would seem like kinky fetishists with a thing for acute disfigurement. An audience, therefore, wouldn't buy the coda, where his female admirers cry at the funeral. As played by John Hawkes, the author of the article "On Seeking a Sex Surrogate" has some sex appeal, some charm, whereas his real-life counterpart was intrinsically bereft of neither. Throughout both films, we hear excerpts from O'Brien's poetry, and in a love poem to an aide, Mark's wish, expressed in the doc, that Amanda would "talk to me as a human instead of her savagely crippled employer" gets fulfilled in the biopic through contrived scenes where the coed integrates Mark into the world of the able-bodied, like when they laze together at a student picnic, making him feel like a man. Full of p*ss and vinegar, he declares his love for Amanda at the boutique, a declaration that goes unreciprocated. O'Brien, in Breathing Lessons, we find out, is harder to love; that Hawkes is playing an idealized version of the man in the iron lung. His counterpart was not fearless, was not a saint. On the subject of love, in regard to his poem about Amanda, he says, "I would kill this poem and tell her how much I love her." John Merrick wouldn't make such pronouncements in real life, and neither did Mark. The filmmaker ennobles him with an unbeknowing bravery. Breathing Lessons shows O'Brien as he really was, warts and all. The poet had hired a sex surrogate because he was angry at all women for not loving him. Mark wanted control, the same locus of power he held over his professional-minded caretakers. Sexual intercourse would be his revenge. Mark could have fired Cheryl, hurting the quasi-prostitute before she hurt him, like so many women before her. But in The Sessions, an audience will be hard-pressed to detect a misogynistic bone in Mark's body, going so far as asking permission from a priest before Cheryl guides him through the nuts and bolts of physical love. When Amanda reappears in the film, taking over the reins of Mark's gurney from Vera, her successor, en route to a public park, he tells his first love, "It could have been you, but it wasn't," causing the girl to weep, as if she regretted the choice to pass on Mark's overture. In this sense, the filmmaker takes the "opposites attract" trope popular in love stories to the edge. After all, for most, if not all women, an iron lung would be an absolute deal breaker when choosing a suitor. Mark is outfitted with the power of manipulation; he knows his words can maim, and yet, he disingenuously bemoans to Vera that Amanda "didn't show the slightest bit of jealousy." The sex makes him smarmy. To break a woman's heart, it's what Mark O'Brien probably dreamt of the most, second only to achieving full penetration. He gets The Diving Bell and the Butterfly treatment; he's patterned after Jean Dominique Bauby, the one-time editor of Elle magazine, since Bauby too is still desired, even though he's paralyzed from head-to-toe. In a game of intertextual one-upmanship, O'Brien wins. Whereas Mark was able to reach a state of tumescence, Bauby could no longer do so after his stroke. Interminably flaccid, Bauby goes through the motions of the playboy's former lothario-self, leering at the ladies and their respective erogenous zones from his one good eye. The p*nis, no longer a weapon, Bauby now employs letters, one eyeblink at a time, to form words, annihilating his wife, when he forces her to translate an intimate message to his mistress. When Cheryl informs her client about all the men who "would give anything to have a natural erection," she could be talking about Bauby, who like Mark, due to unforeseen circumstances, satiates himself by writing his brains out.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

csw12

Feb 23, 2013

The sessions is the closest thing to a porn movie you can get without calling it porn. The movie is a sad film but the true saddest is that nothing sticks and the characters are extremely dull. Forgettable and not worth caring about.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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