The Sessions [Blu-ray]

Mark O'Brien was a normal healthy child until he was striken with polio at age 6 and doomed to a lifetime or relying on others for his basic needs and his life-saving iron lung. The story could end there but O'Brien's brilliant mind and joy of living overcame all obstacles. O'Brien is not exactly paralyzed, he explains. It's his muscles that don't work. He can't move his body below his nexk yet he becomes a writer. He has feeling throughout his body but can't touch a person or object. He has a wonderful mind trapped in a body that has abandoned him. THE SESSIONS delves into one aspect of O'Brien's incredible life and the movie takes us on an incredible journey of life, love and hope. At age 38, O'Brien, with much guilty and anxiety, decides to hire a sex surrogate just to finally experience sex and physical closeness. He later wrote an article about this experience which became the basis of this book. We can look at Mark O'Brien with pity or revulsion, as many people did, or we can see him as an inspiration and a joyous creation from God. O'Brien lived an exceptionally long life, despite his condition, and touched the hearts of many. His was a true story of overcoming or at least accepting the worst obstacles life could give anyone. John Hawkes gives tremendous heart and depth to his portrayal of O'Brien. Hawkes went beyond the norm and refused doubles or special effects and turned his own body into the twisted posture of a polio-stricken O'Brien. Helen Hunt was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Cheryl Cohen-Greene, the real-life sex surrogate that changed O'Brien's life for ever. Hunt shows her remarkable acting talents as the surrogate baring not only her heart and soul for the role but her body in very tasteful but somewhat explicit nude and sex scenes. Both Hawkes and Hunt became their roles and the connection between the actors and the real-life characters is clear. Hawkes endearing speech pattern and smile and humor endears us the O'Brien he portrays. We just want to give Hawkes and O'Brien a loving hug and to relish his delightful humorous take on life and his tragic situation. O'Brien's moral dilema is strengthed by scenes with his parrish priest placed by William H. Macy. Macy's role is important as the Catholic priest helping O'Brien wrestle with his shame and embarassment along with his strong desire to experience sex for the first time. Macy's role could have been much more and somehow the priest seems one-dimensional as he listens to O'Brien's stories about the surrogate. Obviously, there is the connection between the two as far as not having sex, except the priest has made a decision to be celibate. O'Brien is trapped in a body that is not fully functional and any chance of a normal loving relationship with a woman seems impossible. THE SESSIONS will break your heart and inspire you at the same time. There is a sweet sadness to the story that is peppered with hopelessness yet the story is full of hope and joy. It is a remarkable story that the actors and writers brought to the big screen. This fine independent film will keep you thinking and wondering. The priest says God will give O'Brien a "pass" on breaking the rules against pre-martital sex because of O'Brien's predicament. The moral dilemma is heartbreaking since there is no one to blame or judge here. The writers treat the story with gentle humor. Hawkes's take on O'Brien is so lively and full of joy. There is an inspirational tone to the entire film that leaves the viewer curious about O'Brien's lifem along with a bittersweet sense of hope. It is a truly wonderful film. The extras on the film are rather limited and involve Helen Hunt and John Hawkes getting into their roles. There is an interview with the real Cheryl Cohen-Greene who talks very briefly about her career as a sexy surrogate. She never mentiones O'Brien and what relationship that had and how their sessions affected her emotionally. The movie leads us to believe they had a spiritual and emotional connection in their few sessions. Cohen-Greene certainly had an immense effect on O'Brien. A brief feature on the real Mark O'Brien would have been an added plus. We're led to believe he found love the last few years of his life, but did he? THE SESSIONS touches the viewer so deeply that we only want more information on Mark O'Brien and his life. The movie opens with scenes of O'Brien "driving" his bed around Berkeley but there is no mention if this is actual footage or not. Truly a remarkable film that leaves so many questions unanswered and has the viewer wanting more.

Mark O'Brien, a gifted poet and writer and the subject of this marvelous biopic, was stricken with polio as a young child. Still maintaining sensitivity to touch, he lost the use of most muscles and lived out his life in an iron lung, with 4 hours a day outside it, aided by a portable respirator. As we meet up with him in this screenplay, he is 38, and what still works are his great mind, his speech, his humor, and his penis. He longs to experience intercourse with a woman, "before the expiration date"-- his great line. Playing this role so excellently and authentically is John Hawkes. Helen Hunt is Cheryl Cohen-Greene, the sex surrogate. She shines here in the most natural, honest way, displaying her nudity and commitment with pure grace, as she helps Mark realize his dream. William H. Macy is also extraordinary as Father Brendan, in whom Mark confides all his romantic and sexual dreams and to whom he recounts all the details of the therapy. Father Brendan compassionately suspends all judgement and becomes a great support for Mark in this sexual journey, adding that he believes God is giving him "a free pass" in this pursuit. Ben Lewin is the wise and insightful writer and director, who utilizes much of Mark's own writing and thoughts in the construction of this exceptional film. In fact, all filmmaking disciplines are on point. The photography is excellent. The acting is brilliant, even in the supporting cast. I have to offer up a serious superlative here-- this is one of the best films ever!

Really good movie. Yes, Helen Hunt does a lot of nude scenes, but, if you can get over your sophomoric urges, John Hawkes does a wonderful job portraying a severely handicapped man who has adapted to his condition and demonstrates a whimsical, humorous outlook on life (no curmudgeonly, angry, dismissive stereotype here), and we see how his caregivers deal with his moods and physical needs on a daily basis. And the physical needs issue gets explored further as we discover that he is a man of faith and spends time at his local church (he's Catholic, but it is a secondary attribute in this story). We get introduced to the cool, hip Priest (William H. Macy) and through his interactions with the priest, we discover that the issue of sex is becoming a central issue for Hawkes' character. After some introductory scenes with his psychologist, he gets introduced to Helen Hunt's character who is a sex surrogate. The remainder of the movie deals with the sometimes awkward, sometimes humorous and always touching relationship that develops between John Hawkes and Helen Hunt. It is a well written, poignant and intelligent story of a lonely man's quest for normalcy and the people in his life who help him to lead a dignified, full, albeit brief, life.

I love this movie. Every time I watch it I am laughing out loud one moment and then have a tear in my eye the next. Every actor turns in a brilliant performance that is real and subtle, but so full of meaning. Of course, they also have a brilliant script to work with and the director and editor do a wonderful job of drawing the viewer into the story. I am sure there are some people who find the whole concept shocking even now, but for me it is a beautiful film that really makes you appreciate life.

Heart warming

マーケットプレイスで安かったので購入しました。国内版の半額以下です。いきなり日本語で著作権の警告が出てきたので、 もしや日本語字幕入りかと思いきや、入っていませんでした。２０ヵ国以上の字幕が入っているのに、日本語がないのは、高い 国内版を売るためなのかな。削除シーン、メイキング、予告編が入っており、日本語字幕と吹替えがないこと以外は、国内版と 同じようです。 映画としては、寝たきりで人口呼吸器で生活する主人公のセックス体験がメインストーリーとなっています。たいへんな生活 を描くだけでも立派な映画になるところ、セックスの悩みに絞って描いているところがユニークです。実際にセックスもするセックス セラピスト、代理セックスというのも、はじめて知りました。映画の創作かと思いきや、なんと実在するんですね。今は亡くなって しまった主人公の書いた原作がもとになっています。メイキングでは、監督、出演者と一緒にこのセックスセラピストも出演。 ユーモアたっぷりに描かれている映画ですが、実話であることに、たいへん驚きました。 寝たきりの主人公を演じるJOHN HAWKESという俳優さん、素晴らしい熱演です。メイキングで出てくる姿からは、同一人物と 思えなかった。大胆なオールヌード（劇場では修正入らなかったのかな？）を見せるヘレン・ハントも素晴らしい。彼女、誰を演じて も常にヘレン・ハントならではの魅力があって好きな女優さんです。ブルーレイで見ると顔の小じわやらがくっきり、映ってしまうの ですが、なんとも魅力的だなあ。他にウィリアム・H・メイシーが共演。それにしても実在のこの主人公の、原作の魅力をきっちりと 伝えるJOHN HAWKESの演技は見事です。心地よい音楽も良く、夏のボストン？の緑多い風景も良し。なかなかの傑作です。

Very enjoyable low key movie. Brilliant acting and a great true story. William H Macy is particularly amusing. Nice picture quality. Highly recommended. Decent purchase price.

Film bello, intelligente e poetico. Una storia vera capace di fare riflettere su un argomento, da noi, ancora tabù. Poteva scivolare nel patetico o peggio, e invece regista e attori tengono le redini perfettamente. Da recuperare.