Nothing is ever just about sex in Emma Thompson-led 'Leo Grande'
Let’s talk about sex. If we must — I am a bit of a prude.
I’m compelled to do so given that “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a Sundance Film Festival hit that premieres on Hulu this Friday, talks about carnal desires and anxieties endlessly.
The film is essentially a one-set play told over four acts with two characters. Your interest and entertainment in “Leo Grande” will largely rely on how you react to the performers' interactions with one another. I found myself initially exasperated but grew into the dynamic and, by the end of Act Four, I was sold.
Nancy (Emma Thompson) is a retired teacher whose husband passes sometime before the film begins. She is in a non-descript hotel room waiting for Leo (Daryl McCormack) to arrive. His business is pleasure, if you catch my drift.
She is uptight and purse-lipped. Leo’s frankness and smooth delivery opens her up emotionally. Nancy talks about the disappointment in her marriage, about her disconnect with her own body. Leo coaxes her. As a sex worker, he instinctually understands he is not selling himself but selling the other person on a version of themselves.
Nancy goes back and forth on whether to go forward with what she paid Leo for. While ultimately submitting, there’s a lot of chatter before we get to that point.
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There’s a second meeting with more of the same. All of the first half features very transactional, disconnected dialogue. Much of this is manufactured to maximize the awkwardness of the situation — two uncertain beings circling each other.
Some of it has to do with Thompson’s very deliberate delivery, which I’ve always found an impediment to her ability to develop a character. Her enunciation too clipped; her face with a constant state of weariness that struggles to convey much else. If the role demands her one mode of performance, it’s fine. Otherwise Thompson generally leaves me cold.
Her character wants to blame her somewhat miserable life on her dead husband. He is not there to defend himself. Watching Thompson, I wasn’t sold on the long-departed hubby as the problem. More of a critique of her than of “Leo Grande.” But it is an hour and 40 minutes of her in an acting duet.
As the film moves along, this initial stiltedness is revealed as part of a larger plan. As the two become more physically open, Nancy states her desire to know more about this man she sees as someone more than an object. It is now Leo’s turn to withdraw and become guarded.
There’s a tension that arises from this shift, one that creates an interesting perspective on the idea that nothing is ever “just” about sex. “Leo Grande” improves from this shift and even takes advantage of Thompson’s limited range.
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In the end, “Leo Grande” argues that men and women are complicated. What happens between them is hard to untangle. By no means groundbreaking, the “how” of the matter is important. “Leo Grande” goes in some interesting directions but is painfully labored before we see what the story is up to. That’s intentional, but it’s still a slog.
While meant as cinema, the film is foregoing theaters altogether. It works well as television: the scope is limited and the segments broken up in digestible bits. “Leo Grande” a letdown seems at home on a streaming service. Is that a compliment? I’ll leave that question open
In real life, James Owen is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. He created/wrote for Filmsnobs.com from 2001-2007 before an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield. He was named a Top 20 Artist under the Age of 30 by The Kansas City Star when he was much younger than he is now.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Nothing is ever just about sex in Emma Thompson-led 'Leo Grande'
