Rolling: The Sessions

William H. Macy as Father Brendan.

Sug and I had the couch to ourselves for most of the night so I caught "The Sessions" on demand. It's based on the true story of Mark O'Brien, who was struck with polio at age 6 and spent most of his life in an iron lung. Helen Hunt plays the sex surrogate he hires to fulfill his urge to become a man--lose his virginity--at age 38. [The movie starts in 1988; O'Brien died in 1999.]

John Hawkes is striking and likable in the starring role. William H. Macy plays long-haired Father Brendan, a Catholic priest in California who befriends O'Brien and is a sounding board for his fervent wishes. Macy is riveting, and their relationship is fascinating to a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic like me, especially since they meet at church for most of their talks, and Father Brendan tries to think of what Jesus would say.

Hunt is great, with a thick Boston accent that the real surrogate is known for. She is also completely nude in many shots and while she's beautiful, what's interesting is that it takes on a kind of clinical, not erotic, veil, like sex surrogacy itself. Rhea Perlman has a little jewel of a role, too.

What a compelling piece of work. I hopped right on google and found the article it was based on, written by Mark O'Brien and called ON SEEING A SEX SURROGATE.

Good night.

TCOY

1. Good tooth care.
2. Made a Weight Watchers slow cooker recipe--pulled pork with coleslaw on whole wheat bun. Really good.