STORY
Six years ago, Leslie ‘Lee’ Rowlands won a lottery of $190,000. Six years later, she is a drug addict and a jobless woman.
REVIEW
‘To Leslie‘ is a two-hour indie film that focuses on a troubled woman who is wandering here and there and sleeping on the streets. She recently got kicked out of a motel. Her 20-year-old son, who has distanced himself from her, had to take her. She is struggling but the mental and physical collapse is certain due to her addiction to smoking and drinking. She is just not able to get rid of it.
This film or the character of Lee is the director’s best effort to highlight the cases of homeless people on the streets who are begging for help in form of money, job, and shelter. And Lee’s case is a sorry case. For what she did with her life, the consequences were likely.
But as the legend says that there is always an angel knocking on the door sooner or later to all of us who guides us to live a life out of nowhere. I think the film pressed that worriedness well.
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH
More than the film’s continuity as it stood predictable, I was lost in the central performance. Andrea Riseborough as Lee is a born-to-play-the-role effort. A performance that makes me assume that what I watched was not dramatized at all. I observed a woman in her misery, all helpless and lost. Rejected by society, and mocked by her own. Her body language and mannerism were just outstanding.
Just watch her when the son quarrels with the neighbor or that two-and-a-half-minute one-shot scene at the pub when Lee listens to Willie Nelson‘s ‘Are You sure‘ and goes lost and frost in melancholy. My favorite scene is the unexpected mother-son reunion. Every inch of emotion was wholeheartedly felt there.
CONTROVERSY
The speculations and controversy around Andrea’s nomination for Best Actress in this year’s Oscar are unfortunate. If the rules are violated, I am not sure if the nomination will be dropped or what. Director Michael Morris and his wife organized a “celeb-backed campaign” to get her nominated. Whereas the Academy rules forbid individuals from personally or directly lobbying voters in campaign-related communications.
CLOSING REMARKS
Whatever is happening out there. I am looking at a critical matter. What is the fate of small-budget indie films? How to reach the Oscar if the film is lesser known but has all the potential to get a couple of nominations if not a few? There has to be a way.
This film has 97% of positive backing from the aggregate of critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. But guess what, this film grossed only $27,000 in the business. But this doesn’t mean Andrea does not deserve it at all.
I recommend you watch the film for Andrea’s performance.
RATING: 7/10
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Sami Naik | Film Critic 