Been a little while since I've seen a film that's as touching and moving as "The Sessions" which is based on the real life story of a California man named Mark O' Brien. And it's certainly a little different O' Brien(in a top notch and excellent performance from John Hawkes)a poet and journalist is a man with talent, but tragically he's confined to an iron lung due to a kid bout with polio. Then at the age of 38 Mark has made the big decision to lose his virginity. This will be a big impact on Mark's life so he consults the advice of his ever honest priest Father Brendan(in a good supporting turn from veteran William H. Macy)who oddly enough gives a good hearted thumbs up.

This pleasure changing experiment will have to be done with the help of a professional sex surrogate and this lady is a strong and tough wife and mother who makes her living helping others enter Cheryl(in a strong and direct turn from Helen Hunt)who can make everything appear like she's the plain Jane girl from next door. Slowly but surely these encounters or sessions between her and Mark produce results of feeling, relaxation, mind changing, and comfort, all before they finally approach the pleasure point! Along the way this picture is told with honesty and much of the scenes are humor mixed with blunt and brash serious feel of a man being set free toward a new feeling of pleasure freedom finally! Overall the "Sessions" is a film of journey and it shows how the discovery of sexual pleasure can bring out emotional freedom that's touching and memorable even though the scenes are brash with skin and memorable and educational with thought. This film is a real inspirational winner and the chemistry between Helen Hunt and John Hawkes is in top notch form as director Ben Lewin made a real and true winner.

Greetings again from the darkness. In 1997, director Jessica Yu won an Academy Award for her documentary short entitled "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien". Mr. O'Brien was a poet and journalist who attended Cal Berkeley. His story reaches the level of remarkability once you understand that he suffered the harsh effects of polio, was almost entirely paralyzed, and was confined to an iron lung for all but 3-4 hours per day. Director Ben Lewin (a Polio survivor) has taken a specific part of O'Brien's story and turned it into a very entertaining and intimate film that explores the challenges faced by the disabled in leading a full and sexual life.

In 1990, O'Brien had an article published: "On Seeking a Sex Surrogate". It detailed his desire to overcome the obstacles and experience a sexual relationship. He did so by working with Cheryl Cohen Greene, a Berkeley based sex surrogate ... also a wife and mother of two. This is the very touching story of how Cheryl (played here by Helen Hunt) worked with O'Brien (played by John Hawkes) to overcome his fear and anxiety. These sessions occurred after O'Brien "cleared" his plan with his Catholic priest (William H Macy).

This story is as frank and honest as you might expect, and it avoids sinking into Hollywood sentimentality for the sake of the story. The truth is plenty powerful. O'Brien's caregivers are played progressively by Rusty Schwimmer, Annika Marla and Moon Bloodgood. Cheryl's husband is played by Alan Arkin and Robin Weigert plays Susan, the woman with whom O'Brien had a loving relationship with until his death in 1999.

There are some similarities to the wonderful film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, but this story and these characters are much more accessible to the viewer. These are people with whom we care about and connect. It's a vivid reminder that living a full life regardless of one's constraints should always be the goal. Incidentally, Cheryl still works as a surrogate these days ... at age 68.

Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes) is severely paralyzed with a curvature of his spine due to polio and needs an iron lung. He wants to experience sex and lose his virginity. He is put in touch with a sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt) in order to experience sex. At first O'Brien's nervous excitement gets the better of him before the poetry flows.

John Hawkes gives a strong performance as O'Brien. His voice, the weakness of it makes him convincing as a severely disabled man. Just seeing the character wheeled about in his gurney was both inspiring and comical at the same time.

Helen Hunt gives a brave and touching performance as the sex surrogate. Being an Oscar winner and being highly paid in a 1990s sitcom, this is a role she did not need to do as it requires her to be completely naked several times as well as performing intercourse.

William H Macy gives another fine performance as the Catholic priest who counsels O'Brien. There are a lot of scenes between Macy and Sessions. However Macy with his long hair comes across one of those hippy priests. It is mainly to to do with his hair which had to be long for his role in the television series Shameless. I used to be a governor in a Catholic school and the priests I met were far from stuffy but they certainly had regular haircuts.

Despite the life affirming nature of the film this is a slight tale. Some of the characters are a bit bland and everyone is just so nice.

Despite the string performances you think it is just about a disabled man wanting to lose his virginity. It is a bit more than that. It is about a man who overcame the odds, found love and wrote poetry. However to make it into an effective film, the screenplay had to be contrived.