The Sessions (2012)

This is a beautiful love story - not traditional, and about different types of love, and very beautiful.  John Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio as a young boy and spent most of his life in an iron lung. Mark wanted to live independently; he became a writer and a poet, and eventually died before he was 50.

There was a documentary about Mr. O'Brien's life, and I need to watch it. This guy was courageous.  He was also lonely and wanted to participate in life as a sexual person. One of his articles led him to interview a sex therapist, and that led him to consider a sex surrogate. This movie is about that decision, that process, and how it affected him and the people around him.

Mark O'Brien was able to spend a few hours a day outside the iron lung, but to do anything - bathe, relieve himself, go anywhere, he needed a caregiver.  He had several (good, bad and indifferent), and the good ones loved him.  They knew he was going to a surrogate, and were there for him - and not in a wink, wink, nudge, nudge kind of way. They were legitimately happy for him.

The surrogate is played by Helen Hunt, and the sex scenes are frank and clinical and quite lovely. I would say that Helen Hunt and John Hawkes are likely nominees here.  I also really liked Moon Bloodgood as one of his caregivers. I would be happy to see her nominated in the supporting category. William H. Macy is great as O'Brien's priest. He does a lot with the role. 

This movie is not perfect - one scene in particular about a pole dance fantasy made no sense and was jarring, but it's still a B+.  I highly recommend it.