A standout performance by British actress Andrea Riseborough has everyone talking about To Leslie, a low-budget movie made in 19 days and the first feature film for TV director Michael Morris.
Riseborough, 41, is Leslie, an alcoholic single mother who wins $190,000 in the lottery and blows the lot on drinking and partying.
When the film opens she is excitedly planning to use her winnings to buy a house for herself and her 13-year-old son and to have a better life.
Next we see her six years later being thrown out on the streets because she hasn’t paid her rent.
With no job and no hope she turns for help to her son James (Owen Teague), who reluctantly takes her in – on condition she keeps off the booze.
She can’t do it and tearfully he sends her away.
Her next hope is the resentful couple, Nancy (Allison Janney) and Dutch (Stephen Root), who took in her son when she could not care for him.
Again she fails to stay sober and when they turf her out she is homeless, addicted – an outcast.
Help arrives in the shape of a sympathetic motel manager Sweeney (Marc Maron), who sees her sleeping on the street, offers her a job and even gives her a second chance.
It’s a depressing story with a happy ending, a bit hackneyed but well worth seeing for the fine performances by all involved.
Scriptwriter Ryan Binaco knows well the heartbreak caused by alcohol addiction – his own mother was an alcoholic.
Andrea Riseborough’s fearless performance as Leslie – loud and aggressive, frail and helpless, proud and defiant, crushed and humiliated — earned her a surprise Oscar nomination for best actress.
Marc Maron, the comedian and podcaster in a rare dramatic role, is particularly impressive as the kind motel manager.
Scriptwriter Ryan Binaco knows well the heartbreak caused by alcohol addiction – his own mother was an alcoholic.
To Leslie opens on Thursday, March 9, at Luna Leederville and Luna On SX.
Watch the trailer…
