93% The Sessions

All Critics (86) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (6)

Most often with The Sessions the blunt comedy outweighs the drift toward sanctimony.

It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life.

The achievement of this simply told, exceptionally fine film is the clarity with which it portrays the drama of a good soul in an inert body.

Hawkes' performance is the must-see hook of The Sessions, but Hunt gives this funny, touching movie its soul.

Character actor John Hawkes is often cast as a frightening rustic (Winter's Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene), but he gives a tender and witty performance here as Mark O'Brien.

The joy of The Sessions goes beyond sexual healing. It makes physical intimacy far more a matter of the heart, and you won't be alone wiping an occasional tear.

... a story of triumph over disability that takes the form of an uplifting sex comedy rather than a depressing saga of a dying man.

That exceedingly rare combination of sexy, clever and sweet, a winning tale of one charming disabled man's quest to get some stank on his hangdown.

The film greatly benefits from Hawkes' tremendous performance. (Full Content Review for Parents also available)

For the entire endeavor to emotionally register, you must buy into the romance that purportedly blossoms between Hawkes and Hunt. I didn't, not for a second.

Hawkes' work here is that good that it carries one away on a wave of emotion that dismisses critical thought. The film around him could have been better but you're unlikely to realize that while you're watching it.

...a perfectly watchable showcase for two undeniably above-average performances.

Uneven and perhaps a little too tidy as it aims to promote one man's extraordinary spirit. It is John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, however, who are most worth seeing.

Practically ignores everything about O'Brien's life except as it relates to his sexual odyssey, turning the life of the man into little more than a curio.

A powerful expression of our common needs, fears, and consolations.

For better and for worse, The Sessions has 'crowd-pleaser' written all over it.

Neither an issue-pushing disability drama or a crude, American Polio-style sex comedy, The Sessions is sweet and winning - 'feel good' minus the fingers down the throat.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sessions/

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