To Leslie (B or 3/4 stars)
Well, they did it. A handful of high profile & low profile actresses & filmmakers took to Twitter and Instagram several weeks ago to kick-start a grassroots campaign for the wildly talented Andrea Riseborough to nab an Academy Award nomination for her work in 'To Leslie' (a heartfelt addiction/redemption drama directed by Michael Morris), a small independent film that has only made roughly $28,000 at the box office. Well, ya know what ... against all odds ... the campaign worked; resulting in the stunning calling out of Riseborough's name on Oscar nomination morning.
Riseborough stars as the titular Leslie, a lower-class, West Texas single mom struggling to provide for her son (Owen Teague) when she wins $190,000 in the lottery and ... a chance at a good life. But fast forward a handful of yrs. later and, well, the $$ is squandered & Leslie is solo; leaving a trail of men in the dust & living hard at the bottom of a bottle as she runs from life's never-ending heartbreaks. Around age 40, with her charms running out, & with nowhere to go, Leslie is forced to head back home to her former friends, bikers Nancy & Dutch (Allison Janney, Stephen Root).
Unwanted & unwelcomed by those she wronged/used over the yrs. {including her estranged, discouraged grown son}, it is one lonely motel clerk named Sweeney (Marc Maron) who actually takes a chance on her when no one else will. Sweeney runs a local motel & gives her a job as a cleaning lady there. Leslie tries to clean up her act, but continues to stumble during desperate attempts to maintain sobriety. With only Sweeney's continued support, Leslie comes face to face with the dire consequences of her actions, a life full of regrets, & one last chance to make a 'good life' for her & her fractured family.
This is one of those standard, low-budget dramas that just happens to have one brilliant performance at its center. This film doesn't re-invent the wheel of its genre; the story beats are pre-ordained and, you know where each plot point is going. I enjoyed Allison Janney as the tough-as-nails biker chick who won't put up with Leslie's crap. Marc Maron is good; just wish his character wasn't a mere plot device to fix Leslie. And Owen Teague, also great in this yr.'s Montana Story, brings lovely nuance as the son. But really, this film is ALL about Andrea Riseborough & her abrasive, yet pitiful portrayal of Leslie.
Leslie lies, cheats & can't help but to cause problems for herself. The story is riddled with cliches, and so is Leslie. But Riseborough peppers her with a kaleidoscope of emotions: ballsy aggression, coy sweetness, humble desperation, faux-proud defiance, and back again. And though Leslie is rough & tumble, Riseborough still imbues the hard-to-sympathize-with Leslie with ample tenderness & raw sensitivity. The hopeful last scene in a diner does not quite jive with the unflinching, tough realism of the rest of the film -- but after wallowing in all the white trashness of it all, I welcomed the optimism.
Riseborough stars as the titular Leslie, a lower-class, West Texas single mom struggling to provide for her son (Owen Teague) when she wins $190,000 in the lottery and ... a chance at a good life. But fast forward a handful of yrs. later and, well, the $$ is squandered & Leslie is solo; leaving a trail of men in the dust & living hard at the bottom of a bottle as she runs from life's never-ending heartbreaks. Around age 40, with her charms running out, & with nowhere to go, Leslie is forced to head back home to her former friends, bikers Nancy & Dutch (Allison Janney, Stephen Root).
Unwanted & unwelcomed by those she wronged/used over the yrs. {including her estranged, discouraged grown son}, it is one lonely motel clerk named Sweeney (Marc Maron) who actually takes a chance on her when no one else will. Sweeney runs a local motel & gives her a job as a cleaning lady there. Leslie tries to clean up her act, but continues to stumble during desperate attempts to maintain sobriety. With only Sweeney's continued support, Leslie comes face to face with the dire consequences of her actions, a life full of regrets, & one last chance to make a 'good life' for her & her fractured family.
This is one of those standard, low-budget dramas that just happens to have one brilliant performance at its center. This film doesn't re-invent the wheel of its genre; the story beats are pre-ordained and, you know where each plot point is going. I enjoyed Allison Janney as the tough-as-nails biker chick who won't put up with Leslie's crap. Marc Maron is good; just wish his character wasn't a mere plot device to fix Leslie. And Owen Teague, also great in this yr.'s Montana Story, brings lovely nuance as the son. But really, this film is ALL about Andrea Riseborough & her abrasive, yet pitiful portrayal of Leslie.
Leslie lies, cheats & can't help but to cause problems for herself. The story is riddled with cliches, and so is Leslie. But Riseborough peppers her with a kaleidoscope of emotions: ballsy aggression, coy sweetness, humble desperation, faux-proud defiance, and back again. And though Leslie is rough & tumble, Riseborough still imbues the hard-to-sympathize-with Leslie with ample tenderness & raw sensitivity. The hopeful last scene in a diner does not quite jive with the unflinching, tough realism of the rest of the film -- but after wallowing in all the white trashness of it all, I welcomed the optimism.