Travers: John Hawkes Is ‘Remarkable’ in ‘The Sessions’
Like last week’s flick, Argo, this installment of At The Movies finds Peter Travers discussing The Sessions, another film based on real life events (though some of the facts in this one weren’t fudged). The movie stars John Hawkes as Mark O’Brien, a man with polio who, after spending much of his life in an iron lung, is two years shy of his 40th birthday and goes after something he’s never had – sex – after hiring sex surrogate Cheryl, played by Helen Hunt. Noting that Hawkes rightly earned the distinction of “Hot Actor” in Rolling Stone‘s recent Hot Issue, Travers praises the actor’s performance, saying “In a year with all these big star performances, what he does in this is remarkable. This is not one of those weepy TV movies of the week – this is a guy who’s got energy, and he wants to see what sex is like, and there’s something exhilarating and joyful about this performance.”
Agree with Travers that The Sessions – written and directed by Ben Lewin, who has polio himself – is “remarkable in a Hollywood formula land that we live in”? Let him know in the comments below, on Twitter or via e-mail.