Trailer For THE SESSIONS, The Movie That Wins John Hawkes An Oscar

The most surprising thing about The Sessions (previously known as The Surrogate and also previously known as Six Sessions) isn't that it's getting lots of Oscar buzz. The surprising thing is that it's actually pretty good. John Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien, a real poet who was paralyzed from the neck down by polio. A good Catholic, O'Brien approaches his 40s a troubled virgin and, after seeking the blessings of his priest, engages the services of a sex surrogate. Helen Hunt is that surrogate, and together they have six meetings that change everybody blah blah blah.

It's better than it sounds. I cried! It's also not as good as it could be; the movie is never able to fully able to get past the sentimentality of these sorts of risque awards films. It's Hawkes' performance that really makes The Sessions better than usual, though, and it's all but guaranteed that he will get a Best Actor nomination for the role. He'll likely win. At least that's where my bet's going

The Sessions opens in limited release in October.