The Leisure Seeker review: Screen veterans Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland lead the cast and carry this pensioner-plotted comedy drama from Like Crazy director Paolo Virzì.
The Leisure Seeker review by Paul Heath.
Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland have been married for nearly fifty years. The two have decided to take to the road in the titular ‘Leisure Seeker’ a classic Winnebago that they’ve used for family vacations for years. They are heading south from their Massachusetts home, down to Florida to visit Hemingway’s home, a treat for Sutherland’s retired teacher John, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. It is apparent very early on that Mirren’s Ella is also not well, a tumour gradually taking over her body, so this trip seems to be a last hurrah for he both of them, leaving their two children worried back home.
The film is essentially a road-trip from start to finish, a comedy that mostly pleases, even if it is more than a touch predicable, and sadly a little generic in places.
Related: Molly’s Game (TIFF 2017 review)
The main asset that the film has are the two actors in Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren. Sutherland particularly delights in a very difficult role to portray well. He’s funny, though one never laughs at his character’s misfortune. Mirren backs this up with an equally emotional turn as Ella, a woman who has had to change her role in the relationship as her husband’s illness continues to take a turn for the worse.
While it is clearly a film that is dealing with sensitive subject matter, it is very funny all of the way through and raises more than a titter continuously. Although enjoyable, as mentioned before, the film can’t help but throw in more than a couple of road-trip movie cliches – see the obvious robbery scene for one. That said, there are a couple of gems in there too. A highlight is one where John’s memory loss sees him leave his wife at a gas station, so she must hitch a life with a waiting biker to catch up with him in the ‘runaway’ Winnebago. Another memorable moment is when the two finally make it to Hemingway’s house, which just so happens to be hosting a wedding. Cue Sutherland’s John dancing with random guests on the dance floor, a performance worthy of the admission price alone.
When you couple these comedic scenes with sincerely heartfelt ones involving the couple looking back over their life together via a slide projector outside of their mobile home, and the moments when John ‘returns’ to Ella for a brief amount of time, only to be destroyed by the returning effects of his Alzheimer’s just moments later.
The film is certainly enjoyable, though I personally didn’t engage emotionally as much as I thought I would, and when the climax finally reversals itself, which again is a little predictable from the off, I struggled to react to it entirely in the way intended.
The Leisure Seeker is essentially a film that would be suited to a Netflix type audience. Very easy to watch, two great performances from two legendary actors – which may even draw some awards buzz – but ultimately a film that is instantly forgettable.
The Leisure Seeker review, Paul Heath, September 2017.
The Leisure Seeker screens at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
