Milwaukee Film Festival Day 15: The Sessions

The closing night film of the 2012 Milwaukee Film Festival was The Sessions.

The Sessions is based on the true story of Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes) a poet who after getting polio as a child spends most of his day in an iron lung.  He is able to spend about 4 hours a day outside the iron lung and must have an assistant push him around in a gurney.  He spends most of his time outside at a church where he becomes friends with Father Brendan (William H. Macy).  After he gets an assignment to write about sex and disabled people he decides at the age of 36 it is time to lose his virginity.  Someone recommends he uses a sex surrogate named Cheryl (Helen Hunt).  Cheryl tells him that her maximum is only 6 sessions but the emotional connection between the two makes it complicated. 

The movie could be considered a romantic comedy but not your typical romantic comedy.  It is quite funny and emotional but has some unusual twists and turns.  Mark O'Brien's sense of humor about his situation keeps the movie light even as he struggles to fill that void he has in his life. 

John Hawkes gives an amazing performance and it is one that might finally get him the recognition he deserves after giving great performances in Winters Bone and Martha Marcy May Marlene. He makes you forget about Marks physical disabilities and all you see is  his emotional vulnerability and his great sense of humor.  Helen Hunt gives another great performance on par with her Oscar winning performance in As Good as it Gets and William H. Macy is great as usual. 

Overall 5/5 Great performances, great story, and well written.  Look for some Oscar nominations for this one. 

Milwaukee Film Fest Day 7: The Invisible War

The last and best movie I saw on day 7 was the documentary The Invisible War directed by Kirby Dick (This Movie Not Yet Rated)

The Invisible War is about women who have been sexually abused and raped while serving in the military.  They interview several women who all started out young and eager to serve their country.  All the patriotism and enthusiasm change after they are raped.  But the trauma doesn't stop there.  The movie explores what happens to the perpetrators.  Since the ones committing the crimes are usually higher rank and in charge it leaves the women fearful of filing a complaint.  The complaints that are filed are often swept under the rug  and very few of the rapists are charged and punished. 

The stories of the women are heartbreaking and disturbing.  The fact that most of the men who raped the women are still actively serving and some have been promoted is even more disturbing.  The movie brings to light a problem in the military and after viewing the movie the military has changed some policies but more still needs to be done.

Overall 5/5 stars.  Disturbing documentary but brings an important issue to light and is a call to action. 

Milwaukee Film Fest Day 7: Policeman

The second movie I saw on day 7 was the Israeli movie Policeman. Interesting that I saw a movie from Iran then a movie from Israel back to back. 

Policeman follows two groups of people on opposite sides of the law.  First we meet a group of guys in an anti-terrorists task force.  The we meet a group of young radicals who want to make a bold statement.  After the radicals take some hostages the task force gets called in to take them out. 

While the movie has an interesting story it feels like it spends too much time on the back story of the policemen that has no bearing on the ending of the movie.  There appears to be some kind of cover up from a previous job that we never really learn about and with the attention spent on it you would expect it to have some relevance to the story but it doesn't.  By the time we get to the end and the radicals have taken their hostages the movie picks up a bit and gets more interesting but the finale is anti climatic. 

The highlight is the girl who plays one of the radicals.  She gives a great performance and wish the movie focused more on her.

Overall 2/5 Stars.  What could be an interesting story is just a boring set up with not much payoff.