Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (Movie) - Nomi’s Pics

This week I am profiling a movie starring Emma Thompson, and Daryl McCormack called Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.

I have been watching very thought-provoking movies lately. Usually, I like movies that transport and bring me out of my head. This film does the exact opposite.

Good Luck to You Leo Grande has the feeling and structure of a theatrical play. Ninety-five percent of the movie takes place in a hotel room with just the two characters, and there is a lot of dialogue. It forces you to listen, empathize with the presented problems, and almost will a solution to them by seeing them as your own.

Nancy, played by Emma Thompson, is a repressed middle-aged widow, retired teacher, and mother of two. She is tense and self-critical and seems to move through life with preconceived and judgemental notions of herself and others. Her married life was unfulfilling in many ways. Their sex life was lackluster and utilitarian. Nancy’s husband was the only sexual partner she had ever been with, and she had never experienced an orgasm in her life.

At first, Leo, played by Daryl McCormack, seems so self-assured and confident. He is a self-proclaimed sex worker who derives pleasure from helping others with loneliness, isolation, and self-confidence. His vulnerability emerges later when more about his life is revealed, revealing another layer of Nancy’s character.

This is a tale of liberation, self-realization, and a journey for the viewer. I was so uncomfortable and tense initially, and I wasn’t sure I would stick with it. It wasn’t until more of the story unfolded that I realized I could see myself and other women I know in Nancy’s character. 

The layers that exist within us as women of the 20th and 21st centuries, with complex relationships not only with men but with ourselves, are evident as you move through the film.

What felt like hard, stressful work when the movie first began, ended up feeling freeing when the credits rolled. I am in awe of the courage it took to tell this story, and the performances were sublime. What a rare and wonderful thing it is to have a movie dedicated to middle-aged women. A real masterpiece.

This movie gets a big thumbs up from me! I'd love to know your thoughts about it in the comments.