'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' film review: Hilarious, heartfelt journey down bucket list of sex acts
Anchored by a stellar Emma Thompson performance, 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' (streaming on Hulu starting June 17) mines candid humor and refreshing intimacy to elegantly find the perfect balance between sex comedy and tender self reflection.
In short: Retired widow Nancy (Thompson) hires young sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) in the hope of enjoying a night of pleasure after a boring marriage.
With the film almost entirely taking place in a single hotel room, 'Good Luck' has the intimacy of a stage production. Despite all the swirl in Nancy and Leo's life outside the hotel room, the film is able to singularly focus on them as characters. Thompson and McCormack brilliantly step up with a pair of stellar performances - anything less would have probably imploded the movie entirely, as they are the only two characters on screen for almost 90 percent of the film.
The film takes place over the course of several "bookings" between Nancy and Leo spanning several weeks. While this is a sex comedy on the surface, 'Good Luck' is at its most moving and affecting when the film just lets them reflect on their respective experiences. Nancy and Leo lead strikingly different lives: Nancy is initially quite clinical when it comes to sex, whereas Leo is seemingly at total ease. He is a young man at the beginning of adulthood while she is recently retired after a long career. 'Good Luck' hilariously and gently uses sex mostly as a means of nudging Nancy and Leo toward some much-needed reflection.
The film is at its most engaging when the script allows Nancy and Leo to nervously, candidly converse before jumping into bed together. And as uncomfortable as Nancy is initially with discussing sex acts, it becomes quite clear she's even less at ease with her apparent frustration with an unfulfilling life. 'Good Luck' realizes these two strangers are, by the nature of their transaction, engaged in quite intimate relations - a unique relationship that frees them up to discuss their hopes and disappointments with no-risk honesty.
While most of the film organically just allows Nancy and Leo to sincerely get to know each other (on many levels), a third-act turn rather inorganically suddenly pops up to drive a wedge between the two characters. Ostensibly thrown in some conflict between Nancy and Leo, the story choice feels unearned and flirts with melodrama. And melodrama is a bitter contrast for a story otherwise so refreshingly organic and unforced.
Handing the "retiree hires a sex worker" premise to virtually any other filmmaker could have been disastrous - resulting in some lewd or infantile or risqué sex-obsessed movie. Make no mistake: 'Thank You' is very much invested in sexual pleasure, but with an unexpectedly tender and respectful take. The film earns its R-rating for "graphic nudity," but director Sophie Hyde selectively and carefully chooses when to depict nudity and sexuality, making each instance feel truly earned and never gratuitous. ‘Good Luck’ has the maturity to embrace sexuality with candid honesty while rejecting prudish views that stigmatize intimacy.
Final verdict: For a film with almost no plot and compelled by one character paying the other character for sex, its open-ended and personal conversations make 'Good Luck' an engaging film of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
Score: 3.5/5
'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' streams on Hulu starting June 17. This dramatic sex-comedy is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity and some language.
