'The Sessions' -- 3 1/2 stars

( October 25, 2012 )

R; 1:35 running time

John Hawkes is wonderful as O'Brien, as is Helen Hunt as the surrogate whose sessions with O'Brien form the crux of the film. The results are extremely moving and, in general, low on egregiously yanked heartstrings or the usual biopic filler. Writer-director Ben Lewin sticks close to the anticipation and to the fraught and tender details of O'Brien's sessions with Hunt's real-life character, Cheryl Cohen-Greene. And when the ending arrives it's almost impossible not to feel a great deal. -- Michael Phillips

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