Ben Oliver

Banner image for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
film

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

I’m glad you booked me.
19 June 2023

A prudish ex-schoolteacher (Emma Thompson), looking to end a lifetime of dull sex, hires a sex worker (Daryl McCormack).

If I said I laughed I’d be faking it. There’s an uneasiness to the humour that didn’t quite tickle me. However it’s also part of what makes the film a charming and somewhat offbeat comedy-drama that reeled me right in anyway. The other part is the wonderful two lead performances.

Thompson in particular undergoes a subtle but very real metamorphosis, but the screenplay gives both characters a fair shake and it sneaks off in a few different directions without ever losing sight of its core aim.

It does have some of the constraints and pacing of a stage play without actually being written for the stage at all, but that’s a nit pick for the sake of nit picking. This is a great script that revels in truth, brilliantly played out by two very talented people who exploit it to its greatest potential.

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