Good luck to you Leo grande

[CuriousMama]

Just watching it at the minute. Seems good so far? Not like anything I've seen before.

I thought it was very well done. Some things were a bit OTT but I did like the concept. ET was fab as usual.

I thought it was complete rubbish, and glorified prostitution in a way that would be unacceptable if the sexes were reversed - real cringe. I didn’t find the acting convincing at all. I’m the same age as ET, which may or may not make a difference.

I accept we’re all different and that it was difficult to make films under Covid restrictions.

Absolutely one of the worst films I wasted cinema money on.

Glad I didn’t waste my money at the cinema on this film. Didn’t enjoy it. Thought it was sad and a bit sleazy.

I enjoyed it. A sex positive story that was really well-acted.

I really enjoyed it as, it seemed, did all of the women in the cinema. We were all around Emma Thompson's age. There was nothing sleazy about it. fI did think though that the final scene with the waitress was stupid and implausible.

Yeah I really enjoyed it too

What streaming service is this available on? Thanks!

Amazon Prime, also iTunes.

I saw this last night, having heard good reviews from a daughters friend. What blew me away was seeing Emma Thompson daring to be naked in front of the full length mirror. We saw her body, the way a woman’s body looks at that age, with no intervention from plastic surgery and the same with her face. It was so liberating for someone like me who is of similar age. You may laugh, but I have not seen woman’s breasts of that age before. I thought it was just me with my sagginess and loss of volume. We are confronted all the time with images of women who have had breast lifts and / or implants and facial plastic surgery so I no longer know what is normal and compare myself unfavourably, even at my age! I think Emma was so brave, and it has had quite an effect on me.

I thought-is this really what we are so afraid of? To look like this? Is it really so terrible, that thousands have to be spent by celebrities on cosmetic surgery? I thought she was great and looked great, and really appreciate what she did in this film.

SueblueNZ can you remind me of what the final scene was please and why you found it implausible?

Funkyslippers
It's been a few months now since I saw the film so my memory might be fuzzy, but I'm referring to the scene in the restaurant when she tells the waitress - one of her former students - that Leo, who is clearly decades younger - is her lover. I cannot imagine that that would really happen.

[spoiler alert] It went a bit beyond that - she apologised for telling her off at school for being a bit tarty in her attire, then revealed that the young man was someone she bought for sex and recommended him, news the young waitress received with a happy air of expectation as if thinking 'ooh, I'll give it a try!'

I’m amazed Emma Thompson agreed to do it. Her character was a bitch, the boy she paid for sex was clearly traumatised and putting brave face on it and we’re all supposed to come away thinking it’s charming and that prostitution can actually be lovely.

I completely agree with you with regards to this aspect of it, it was fantastic and hats off to her. I'm late 40s so a bit younger but it definitely made me think about how hard we are on ourselves and how we should be revelling in our bodies and our sensuality/sensuality, not picking faults and bemoaning what we don't like. We will never again be as young as we are today.

I watched this yesterday and thought the same! Not sure how she could continue knowing how traumatized he was,but she's paying so that's fine? Very odd.

It was okay to see on TV

I think there's be outrage if sexes were reversed though.

Yes exactly "I don't want an old woman,I want a young one." Not quite so acceptable,is it?

Was he traumatised? I didn’t think so.

No he wasn't traumatised and I've yet to see an old female prostitute portrayed.

I think he was traumatised, didn't take much to scratch the surface and for him to go to pieces.

I dunno, I suppose it's a good film in as much as I'm thinking about it today and mulling it over.

He was angry about his mum disowning him, but he wasn’t traumatised. I don’t see a problem with her paying him to shag her after she found out about his mum.

I also think it’s fine to depict a person of a certain age verbally lusting after a much younger adult.

I'm in complete agreement.

He looks and seems fine, but we get a glimpse of him showing trauma and being far from happy.

I'm not a fan of ET as an actress in most things, and she played the same matter of fact, no nonsense character here. She was horribly selfish and did cross his boundaries by looking for his real identity, then seems to think it would be a good idea to out himself and his current profession to his family.

And that scene in the hotel lobby where she tells the waitress she taught years ago (horrible comment about not having taught her well if she's working there) all about them both. Doesn't she suggest the waitress might be interested? It's just madness. Absolutely ridiculous.

Then she passes his details to her friends. It's just awful.

Her crashing in on his boundaries was appalling. I get that she might want to do it, but why tell the person?

The scene I thought we were given a glimpse of him being traumatised was where he visibly became emotional and froze, then sort of pulled himself together. ET's character didn't witness that and wasn't aware.