The Sessions Review

"The Sessions" tells the charming story of a man in an iron long coming to terms with his own sexuality and loneliness with a sex surrogate.

65 year old writer/director Ben Lewin achieves a remarkable balance between the comic aspects of the story and its more serious nature but without ever sacrificing the other. The moment the film seems to be headed into truly heavy territory, Lewin and his incredible cast throw a small ounce of levity that immediately relieves you. What this creates is not only a strong and subtle character study, but an enjoyable one. 

The film tackles a vast array of themes and ideas. O'Brien knows his "due date" is close by and after being rejected by his first love asserts his desire for sexual intercourse to feel like a "real man." But Lewin takes small jabs at this belief that sex is a fulfilling experience as characters constantly jeer at the fact that it ends too quickly and at one point O'Brien even notes that he thought it would be a bigger deal to which his attendant Rod (W. Earl Brown) notes that intercourse Is overrated and that there are many ways to achieve the same result. As the story deepens, the perspective of human connection and love starts to really dominate the narrative as O'Brien no longer seeks out individual sexual expression but sexual and emotional connection. Continue reading.