Review: "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande"
Never mind 'Good.' It's Great.
Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson as Leo Grande and Nancy Stokes in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
From my own viewing experience, films depicting prostitution and sex work often show similar grim scenarios. Whether they’re picking up clients in a seedy part of a metropolitan city at night time or enduring mistreatment, sex workers are often shown as if their occupation is a never-ending source of misery. Even Pretty Woman just barely escapes such trappings as Vivian Ward must be rescued from her cramped Los Angeles apartment by her rich client in order for her to achieve her fairy tale ending.
Thankfully, the new dramedy Good Luck to You, Leo Grande proves that there are indeed other narratives involving sex work that can be told. A more empathetic portrayal showing someone who doesn’t need rescuing and takes pride in an occupation involving what is a natural, human act.
Once the film opens, we see the titular protagonist (Daryl McCormack) going on a nice daytime stroll through the city before meeting his client, widower Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), in a luxurious hotel room. The way he casually walks to the hotel while wearing his nice clothes shows how he treats his line of work like an everyday job. Although Leo’s initial meet-up with Nancy becomes intimate to the degree where she books more sessions with him, he still sets boundaries between himself and his clients to ensure that his professional life is separate from his personal one.
Besides its dignified portrait of sex work, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande also serves as a depiction of gradual self-love once Nancy delves into her insecurities about her appearance and trouble with engaging in an active sex life at her old age. As one can expect from an acting titan like herself, Emma Thompson brilliantly navigates Nancy’s diffidence, doing so through a balance of wry humor and painful distress.
Credit should also go to breakout actor Daryl McCormack for managing to hold his own against Thompson beat-for-beat. McCormack is impeccable as a man meant to present himself as a perfect sexual ideal before seamlessly dropping his salacious veneer once Leo and Nancy become too antiquated.
Both Thompson and McCormack are an intoxicating, dynamic duo in this unadorned yet insightful gem from director Sophie Hyde. One that thrives on the performances, its blend of humor and drama, and more importantly, its messages about sex positivity and self-confidence. For a film that runs at a brisk 97 minutes, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande has plenty to offer and is certainly worth one’s time.
Grade: A