You won't be disappointed!

Sadly Over-hyped

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerThe Sessions tells the story of a crippled man looking to lose his virginity. He gets the help of a sex therapist and tells his priest about it. The story, by nature, is extremely graphic. Nudity, sexual dialogue, and explicit sex scenes are all present in the film. The story is very interesting and the ending is very good.The acting is very good. John Hawkes does a great job portraying his character. He is a sweet man but his voice is very annoying. Helen Hunt also performs well. She is seen completely nude very often which is a plus. Her character is from Boston but the way she pronounces Mark is annoying. William H. Macy performs very well, his character is at time very funny. The pacing was a little slow for me but the runtime is short.Pros: Good story, good ending, great acting, seeing Helen Hunt nude in a lot of scenes, and a short runtimeCons: Mark's voice is annoying, the way Helen Hunt says Mark is annoying, and the pacing was a little slow.Overall Rating: 7.0

I remember this independent film being talked about on Film 2012 with Claudia Winkleman and Danny Leigh, it looked like something interesting, and it had some good names in the cast, so I was looking forward to it. Basically in 1988, in Berkeley, California, Mark O'Brien (Golden Globe nominated John Hawkes) is a journalist and poet, when he was younger he contracted poliomyelitis, and spends his life completely paralysed, requiring assistance to eat and drink, wash, get dressed and move around, and he has an iron lung (a mechanical respirator) to breathe on his own at night. Due to his condition, Mark has never had sex, he tried unsuccessfully to propose to his caretaker Amanda (Annika Marks), and he senses he may be near death, he decides he wants to lose his virginity. After consulting his priest, Father Brendan (William H. Macy), being a devout Catholic, and after talking to a sex therapist, he gets into contact with professional sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Helen Hunt), she explains that he is not like a prostitute, because it is not business, she will teach him everything to have a future loving sexual relationship. Cheryl tells Mark that they will have no more than six sessions together, with the goal of intercourse, Mark has the sense of touch, and he is maintain an erection, but he cannot masturbate and has never been close to a naked woman, so on their first session, after Cheryl undresses him, and she undresses, it does not take long for him to ejaculate when he gets overexcited. As they continue their sessions, they have to move location, to a motel, Mark continues to get overexcited when Cheryl allows him to touch her, and when she does try to get to the point of helping him to have intercourse, so she is patient in helping him get to the point where he can control himself, but they talk as openly as they can about things, without getting too much into her personal life. It becomes apparent, through the sessions, that Mark is developing developing romantic feelings for Cheryl, she is trying to remain professional, but Cheryl cannot help herself having feelings for Mark as well. Cheryl's husband Josh (Adam Arkin, Alan's son) loves her deeply, he is aware of what she does with her clients, hearing about Mark however he cannot suppress his jealousy, he withholds a love poem Mark sent Cheryl by mail, she does eventually find this. After several attempts, Mark and Cheryl are able to have mutually satisfying sex, but Mark makes the decision to make their fifth session their last, she agrees cutting their session short is will stop their burgeoning feelings. One day after the last session, Mark officially no longer a virgin, there is a power cut where he lives, his iron lung stops functioning, he uses his stick to use the telephone to call his friend for help, but he drops his stick before he can call emergency services. Mark however does survive his ordeal after being rushed to hospital, it is there that he meets and falls in love with a young woman named Susan Fernbach (Robin Weigert), throughout his life Mark had relationships with three women. In the end, Mark has passed away following complications from bronchitis, his friends and the women he came to know and love, including Cheryl, are attending his funeral, Father Brendan gives a thoughtful and personal eulogy, and Susan reads Mark's favourite poem, which he previously wrote for Cheryl. Also starring Moon Bloodgood as Vera, W. Earl Brown as Rod, Blake Lindsley as Dr. Laura White, Jarrod Bailey as Tony, Rusty Schwimmer as Joan, Rhea Perlman as Mikvah Lady and Ming Lo as Clerk. Hawkes gives a good performance as the sexually inexperienced and naive disabled man threatened by guilt from his beliefs, but desperate to fulfil his needs, Hunt is very good as the surrogate willing to teach him the tools he needs for the future, she seems comfortable being nude a lot of the time, and Macy is great support as the free-thinking priest helping him through the dark times and offering comforting advice. It is a very simple story, a man who cannot move losing his virginity, and slowly he has feelings for the woman who will eventually do it with him, and she feels the same, the fact that the story is true gives the film some depth, but it is not just a serious and schmaltzy film, it leaves room for a witty script and some funny moments as well, all in all it is a likable comedy drama based on a true story. Worth watching!

One of Helen Hunts best.Hunts empathy toward the inflicted man John Hawkes was touching, and moved me.William Macy was brilliant, as usual. I enjoyed his performance, a truly gifted actor.John Hawkes, what can I say, but he nailed it.Director & writer Ben Lewin did a remarkable job telling a heart wrenching story.Although difficult to watch if your an open wound of emotion like myself, be ready to cry. However I would watch it again. I have one spoiler, or more than a warning. Helen Hunt's character does appear nude. So if you are offended by nudity you might want to wait until it comes out on basic cable.The emotional journey is riveting in this movie. I avoided specific's on purpose' as not to spoil it for a new audience.This is my first review, I hope it helps this film to reach others.

I stumbled on this film while flicking through the TV channels late at night, and it captivated me. I am not a fan of Helen Hunt but I think this is her best film, and the role suited her perfectly. She has an amazing lack of inhibition about her body and about sex scenes, which rang true for her character. John Hawkes, as polio victim Mark O'Brien, is outstanding. It's hard to believe it's the same actor who was Jennifer Lawrence's deadbeat, but ultimately heroic, uncle in the movie Winter's Bone. What Hawkes does here is to completely emulate O'Brien's physically helpless, twisted body, and also the wry humour and fierce determination that enabled him to survive for probably years longer than many people with his condition. It's true that William H. Macy's priest character is a little clichéd -- he's the affable, totally supportive friend from central casting. But Macy works hard, like Hawkes, to inhabit his character, and ultimately he succeeds. He plays a huge role in encouraging O'Brien to gain some sort of emancipation from his terrible boxed up life. And some of Macy's scenes in which Hawkes confesses all the intimate details to him are very funny. Most of the other supporting actors are great, too. I didn't entirely find the girlfriend character at the end very convincing. She was under-written and there's no time to find out anything about her. But overall, Ben Lewin's script and direction are perfectly clear, without a word or scene wasted. The level of sex and nudity was unusually high for an American film. It was more European in that regard, but it was not gratuitous, and after all the movie is about sex. So everyone concerned dealt with some difficult subjects extremely well, with humour, respect, dignity and meaning.