Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2012)
MOVI ES BY MO LLY TEMP LETO N SEX AND THE SURROGATE A tender, candid drama following a paralyzed man’s quest for intimacy THE SESSIONS : Written and directed by Ben Lewin. Cinematography, Geoffrey Simpson. Editing, Lisa Bromwell. Music, Marco Beltrami. Starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks and Robin Weigert. Fox Searchlight, 2012. R. 95 minutes. 00001 . fellow Deadwood alum W. Earl Brown), who has the late shift; and Vera, whose tightly pulled-back braid and ill- chosen glasses can’t really hide Moon Bloodgood’s beautiful face. Vera, dry and warm and endlessly understanding, is Mark’s assistant when he decides he wants to have sex, and her practical acceptance of Mark’s desires sets the film’s tone. But first, Mark, who was raised Catholic, wants to clear things with Father Brendan (an excellent William H. Macy). Given Mark’s particular circumstances, is it OK to have sex outside of marriage? Will God understand? Brendan, who’s pretty sure he’s out of his depth, is inclined to say yes. T he Sessions, a candid, gentle film about a paralyzed man’s quest to have sex, walks a tricky, balanced, grave and funny path that’s all its own. Struck by polio at a young age, Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes) lives mostly in an iron lung; he can get out for a few hours at a time, his assistant pushing him on a gurney. Three assistants are key in the film: Amanda (Annika Marks), a pretty young woman with whom Mark falls in love; Rod (Hawkes’ C I N E M A S for Nov 22 - 29 A R T 4:50 7:10 9:30 1:15 3:40 6:00 8:20 1:15 3:40 6:00 8:20 28 HOTEL ROOMS 4:50 9:15 4:50 9:15 8:30 9:15 LUCKY 5:00 4:50 7:10 9:30 4:50 7:10 9:30 4:50 7:10 9:30 4:00 8:25 $5/free w/ UO id 4:00 8:25 4:00 8:25 7:10 ARBITRAGE 4:00 2:25 7:10 FINAL SHOWS! 2:25 2:25 6:20 4:00 8:25 UO CULTURAL FORUM WORLD CINEMA SERIES 6:20 6:20 6:20 COMING SOON: SMASHED THE DETAILS WUTHERING HEIGHTS BIG EASY EXPRESS *Adults—$7*Students w/ID—$6*Seniors—$5*Matinees—$5*Lates—$5*Miser Mondays—$3* TIX $2 Tix 21 & FOOD $5 Sun & Tues ovER MENU 762-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE davidminortheater.com WED NOV 21–28 CLOSED 11/22 SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD *5:50, 5:20 ® Purch Adv Tix @ cinemark.com 800-326-3264 + Exp # 4:50 7:10 9:30 SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN 7:10 6:25 bijou-cinemas.com THE CAMPAIGN *5:50, 9:25 THE SESSIONS THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES ends tonight! 492 East 13 th 686-2458 1:15 3:40 6:00 8:20 Nov 29 Nov 28 Nov 27 Nov 26 Nov 25 Nov 24 Nov 23 Nov 22 THU FRI SAT SUN MON TUES WED THU Mark’s confessions — which are more like conversations — with the priest give The Sessions a winding, lovely shape, dotted with voiceovers and able to deftly return to certain moments and scenes. Hawkes, a marvelous actor who’s been getting his due since his malevolent, unstable turn in Winter’s Bone, is wry and self-deprecating as Mark, and Macy, a scrappy and shaggy priest, pulls an earthy spiritualism to the surface. And then there’s Helen Hunt, who plays Cheryl Cohen Greene, the sex therapist who begins to work with Mark. In a tattered Massachusetts accent and long, flowy child- of-the-’70s clothes, Hunt is more likable, more believable and more vulnerable than ever. Writer-director Ben Lewin and his actors strike just the right balance in the scenes with Mark and Cheryl, which are often intercut with scenes in which Vera tries, gently and dryly, to explain to a perplexed motel clerk exactly what’s going on in these therapy sessions. His disbelief and skepticism are understandable, but have no weight next to the intimate, careful, kind exchange between Cheryl and Mark. The Sessions has time and patience for all its characters, whose lives loop and tangle with each other, all woven around Mark. There are no pat morals to this story; to treat it like a reminder to appreciate what you have would be to undermine Mark O’Brien as a character and a person, and Lewin is too smart for that. Each of the film’s characters has a complex relationship with intimacy, whether a priest with his congregation, a wife with her husband or child, a caregiver with her charge or a man with his lover. Lewin’s thoughtful screenplay makes his characters equals, even Susan (Robin Weigert, yet another Deadwood alum), who appears late in the film as a hospital volunteer who makes a vital connection with Mark. “I’m not a virgin,” he tells her impulsively. In Lewin’s film, sex is a different kind of big deal: complicated, vital, vulnerable, honest — words that apply to The Sessions as well. ■ HUNGER READS THE MORNING PAPER , TOO . 1 IN 6 AMERICANS STRUGGLES WITH HUNGER. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED *7:40, 5:20 TOGETHER WE’RE MOONRISE KINGDOM *7:40, 9:25 MAGIC MIKE *9:25, 7:10 SAVAGES *9:25, 7:10 * SHOWTIME ON 11/21 ONLY * “TEXT-A-BEER” 541-913-5733 ORDER DRINKS & FOOD RIGHT FROM YOUR SEAT 22 November 21, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com Hunger is closer than you think. Reach out to your local food bank for ways to do your part. Visit FeedingAmerica.org today. CINEMARK 17 Gateway Mall - Beltline @ *DWHZD\ ([S&RGH ARGO (DIG) R 11:05, 1:50, 4:35, 7:20, 10:05 CLOUD ATLAS (DIG) R 11:40, 3:20, 6:55, 10:35 FLIGHT (DIG) R 1:10, 4:15, 7:20, 10:25 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (DIG) PG 11:50, 2:15, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50 LIFE OF PI (DIG) PG 2:55, 8:35 LIFE OF PI (3D) PG 10:40, 12:05, 1:30, 4:20, 5:45, 7:10, 10:00 LINCOLN (DIG) PG-13 12:30, 3:45, 7:00, 10:15 RED DAWN (DIG) PG-13 12:50, 3:10, 5:30, 7:50, 10:10 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (3D) PG 11:55, 2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 9:55 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DIG) PG 10:40, 1:10, 3:40, 6:10, 8:40 SKYFALL (DIG) PG-13 11:20, 12:55, 2:30, 4:05, 5:40, 7:15, 8:50, 10:25 TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2 (DIG) PG-13 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 1:45, 2:45, 3:45, 4:45, 5:45, 6:45, 7:45, 8:45, 9:45, 10:45 WRECK-IT-RALPH (DIG) PG 12:25, 3:05, 5:45, 8:25 WRECK-IT-RALPH (3D) PG 11:05, 1:45, 4:25, 7:05, 9:45 MOVIES 12 Gateway Mall - Beltline @ *DWHZD\([S&RGH BRAVE PG 1:30, 3:50, 6:15, 8:35 BRAVE (3D) PG 12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:10, 9:30 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES PG-13 12:00, 4:00, 8:00 FINDING NEMO (2012) (3D) G 11:55, 2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 9:55 FUN SIZE PG-13 12:30, 3:00, 5:05, 7:20, 10:10 HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET PG-13 12:25, 2:45, 5:10, 7:45, 10:05 ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT PG 12:05, 2:20, 4:45, 7:30, 9:40 LOOPER R 12:45, 3:55, 7:00, 9:35 THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN PG 12:35, 2:55, 5:15, 7:40, 10:00 PARANORMAN PG 12:20, 2:40, 5:20, 7:35, 9:50 SILENT HILL: REVELATION R 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:15, 9:25 TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE PG-13 12:15, 3:45, 7:05, 9:45 Assistive Listening and Captioning System Avail
