“You're living, right? I'm sorry it ain't a fairytale. We all should have done things differently. But you're what's wrong with you. Not anyone else.” Sweeney (Marc Maron)
Andrea Riseborough’s titular drunk in To Leslie is more real than Robert Duvall’s in Tender Mercies or Vera Farmiga’s addict in Down to the Bone. It is so unflamboyant and nuanced that if life were fair, she’d beat Cate Blanchett, Michele Yeoh, and others for best actress at the 2023 Oscar ceremony.
Contrary to what has been said about Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, Michael Morris, and other A-listers violating Academy practices about promoting her for the Oscar, Riseborough deserves the promotion since no one was aware of the performance until the stars spoke up. According to director Morris, Riseborough’s performance is the “greatest” he has ever seen. She is in every frame, of which each is slightly different than the others, giving a nuanced character that is no less than a tour-de-force performance.
Leslie’s character arc goes from a woman lost in her alcoholic dissipation, which is a probable salve for losing $190K lottery winnings and more importantly, her son, James (Owen Teague):
“You know she left her kid? You know she drank all that money away? Had every chance and pissed it down the gutter! And her son? Left him. That boy was thirteen. Ain't got food, and he's scared all alone without his mama. Just so you could go out drinking thinking you're hot shit!” Nancy (Allison Janney)
Her rehab is small and tenuous but no less real than the rest of working-class folk who have struggled with poverty and plague without the cushions the ruling class always has. Writer Ryan Binaco has caught wholly the rhythms of downbeat West Texas and addiction.
Talking about “real,” her relationship with Sweeney, who manages a motel where she works, is so achingly sweet that you’d wish the world could witness how human beings can change caring into gold. In fact, the acting in the entire film is so powerful, if the Academy had a “best ensemble” prize, To Leslie would win it.
So, go along on her Odyssey, observe that her interior and exterior lives are open to see, chaotic as they are, and then decide if she should beat the heavyweights in the best actress category. I’m betting, like me, you’ll change to Leslie.
To Leslie
Director: Michael Morris (Better Call Saul)
Screenplay: Ryan Binaco (3022)
Cast: Andrea Riseborough (Happy-Go-Lucky, Birdman), Allison Janney (The Help, The Hours)
Run Time: 1h 59m
Rating: R
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and hosts Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com
