The Sessions is a film about Mark O’Brien, a man who lived the better part of his life in an iron lung. I say better part for two reasons. One, he’s spent much more than half his life in the thing, and two, he has continued to live life in a spectacular fashion by creating poetry and basically living his life in an honest and (almost) pitiless fashion. John Hawkes’ (Winter’s Bone) unflinching portrayal makes us forget that he’s handicapped, something that can be celebrated all on it’s own. However, Helen Hunt’s portrayal of Cheryl (the sex surrogate Mark visits in order to lose his virginity) is a how-to in the art of understated characterization. This kind of performance pulls you in with it’s believability, and makes The Sessions not only film we’ll definitely hear more about come Oscar season, but an ensemble piece that celebrates life and the individual’s ability to live it to the fullest.

Based on the real Mark O’Brien’s article On Seeing A Sex Surrogate, The Sessions deals with the period in Mark’s life when he saw a surrogate, and how that affected his life.  It’s a moving film, but it’s also one that allows the characters in it to be real human beings rather than better-than-thou trivialities.  This film, more than any others lately, shows the humanity and “realness” of the handicapped. People with terminal or chronic issues aren’t piteous creatures, nor are they magical; they’re human beings like everyone else. The Sessions gets you into Mark’s head and by doing so the problems with his body don’t fall away, but they do become only part of who he is. The disabled characters in this film are no better, no worse; they just are. It’s a refreshing look at lives that may be different from yours but are no less interesting (or messy) than what you’re living.

William H. Macy plays Father Brendan, the mid-20th Century hippie priest that Mark goes to for absolution and advice. As with all the characters here, screenplay writer/director Ben Lewin creates fully fleshed individuals that let the enormously talented actors do their best.  Side-plots that show Cheryl and her husband (a droll Alan Arkin) and Mark’s assistant Vera (Moon Bloodgood, Falling Skies) chatting with the hotel clerk (Ming Lo, Jarhead) put the interaction between Cheryl and Mark into perspective. And that perspective is Everyone Is Normal.

In a world where there are plenty of wonderful movies about the disabled (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, My Left Foot, The Intouchables, and even Breathing Lessons, the Oscar-winning documentary short about O’Brien) saying that a film is better than the rest is really whipping out the big guns.  The Sessions deserves that praise.  Bittersweet, funny and most of all real, it’s a film that doesn’t rely on tugging heartstrings to get it’s message across.  Quite simply The Sessions is the filmmaker’s craft done well.  Pad your Oscar poll; this one’s gonna come up a few times y’all.