Film after film: To Leslie (dir. Michael Morris, 2022)
There's an annoying aura of do-goodness about this film, focalizing around Maron's and Royo's performances. The first one, bringing his personal experience with sobriety, occasionally bumps into non-acted preachiness, which, while well-intentioned, stinks of being scripted. The latter, as the only self-presenting person of color, is given the trite exoticizing tropes and fewer lines, as well as little screen time. Clichéd costuming is also the case of Janney's and Root's characters, yet she is at least given a scene, at the film's end, that allows the actress to add hefty emotional layers to this otherwise frustrating characterization. Yet this film gripped and held my attention throughout: its story has a relaxed yet engaging pace, and it is photographed in a cool indie-typical way. At the center of it there's Riseborough's massive performance, which is very close to the camera that registers everything that goes on with her. She's an awesome, attention-grabbing, showy performer. When set within the context of other great actresses playing characters with alcohol-related problems, it's still second to my two favorites: Tilda Swinton in Julia and Gena Rowlands in Opening Night.
And don’t miss the rest of my chat with Jay Giles about #TheWire. In the bonus segment, we talk favorite seasons, impactful character introductions, and satisfying moments of character comeuppance. Out now!
Rookie-Critic's Top 25 Films of 2022:
#17: To Leslie (dir. Michael Morris)
Jumping from one of the list's earliest additions to one of it's last, To Leslie snuck up on me. Frankly, I think it snuck up on the entire country. How did the lead actress in a film that only earned $31.5K at the box office get nominated for one of the most prestigious film awards of the year? Personally, I think the answer is more innocent than the controversy surrounding the nomination leads people to believe, and on top of that, Andrea Riseborough, who plays the titular Leslie in the film, is absolutely deserving of that nomination. Surprisingly enough, if Michelle Yeoh hadn't been nominated for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once this year, Riseborough most likely would have been my personal pick out of the other four actresses nominated. The heartwarming, but difficult journey of Leslie as she attempts to course-correct her life after over a decade of alcoholism might be a tale as old as time, but director Michael Morris and screenwriter Ryan Binaco's laser-focus and unapologetic honesty in the way they portray Leslie's recovery is so unique that it doesn't really matter that this is ultimately a story you've seen before. The time spent showing the audience the realities and consequences of Leslie's alcohol abuse on the people she was close to isn't small, and I appreciate a film that asks it's viewers to forgive their flawed protagonist for the person she was without sweeping her past abuses under the rug, without sugarcoating the bad or glorifying the good they're doing now. It also paints a very realistic portrayal of the idea that the struggle of staying sober, of staying clean, might never go away. It's a film that remembers without condemning, and loves in spite of its protagonist's flaws. I'm honestly glad that the awards campaign for Riseborough was so successful, because it put this film on my radar when I otherwise would have overlooked it completely.
Currently available to rent/purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.).
Read my full review of To Leslie here.