Title: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Tagline: It’s never too late to try something new.
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Sophie Hyde
Cast: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack, Isabella Laughland, Les Mabaleka, Lennie Beare, Carina Lopes, Charlotte Ware
Release: 2022-06-17
Runtime: 97
Plot: Nancy Stokes doesn’t know good sex. Whatever it may be, Nancy, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had it, but she is determined to finally do something about that. She even has a plan: It involves an anonymous hotel room, and a young sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande.GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE (2022) Katy Brand's intimate drama casts Emma Thompson as a lonely woman (Nancy) of a certain age who hires a much younger sex worker named Leo (Daryl McCormack) to explore her sensual needs. Brand (who curiously takes a writing credit as “created by”) has fashioned the project as almost a filmed play in four distinct acts. Virtually all of the activity takes place in that hotel and with this couple.
For such a compact movie to work, the actors must carry the weight. One can't imagine a performer more capable than Thompson, and she pulls it off very well even when the movie lags. McCormack has it tougher, for Leo often comes off as an idealized object. He's smart. Charming. Patient. And, doesn't quibble over financial matters or Nancy's moods. The perfect fantasy.
Within the limitations of Brand's screenplay, Thompson and McCormack keep things interesting. Still, one can't help but feel the contrivances. There's a certain artificial air about the whole affair right from the unwieldy title onward. Stephen Renncks' music is often obtrusive layering on false notes when no accompaniment is needed whatsoever; And, why are the curtains wide open during their sexual interludes - so that Cinematographer Bryan Mason can have prettier compositions? Surely, a prim, repressed woman like Nancy would never allow this.
Fortunately, Thompson and McCormack more than rise to the occasion. Even with the false notes - including a certain feeling of a checklist being ticked off in the final act - LEO GRANDE is touching. One does get a sense of two disparate people coming together for a brief moment in time, and each leaving feeling a bit wiser about themselves.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE is available to stream on Hulu.
For such a compact movie to work, the actors must carry the weight. One can't imagine a performer more capable than Thompson, and she pulls it off very well even when the movie lags. McCormack has it tougher, for Leo often comes off as an idealized object. He's smart. Charming. Patient. And, doesn't quibble over financial matters or Nancy's moods. The perfect fantasy.
Within the limitations of Brand's screenplay, Thompson and McCormack keep things interesting. Still, one can't help but feel the contrivances. There's a certain artificial air about the whole affair right from the unwieldy title onward. Stephen Renncks' music is often obtrusive layering on false notes when no accompaniment is needed whatsoever; And, why are the curtains wide open during their sexual interludes - so that Cinematographer Bryan Mason can have prettier compositions? Surely, a prim, repressed woman like Nancy would never allow this.
Fortunately, Thompson and McCormack more than rise to the occasion. Even with the false notes - including a certain feeling of a checklist being ticked off in the final act - LEO GRANDE is touching. One does get a sense of two disparate people coming together for a brief moment in time, and each leaving feeling a bit wiser about themselves.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE is available to stream on Hulu.
