What a wonderful film-- but it's definitely for a certain audience (thus why I took one star away).
This movie is for anybody who is starting to feel older. We all age, and our bodies change and our hair gets grey. However, this movie is all about embracing those changes and accepting them. It is sex positive and body-image positive.
Hats off to Emma Thomspson who gives the performance of her career. At the beginning, she plays a woman who has never had an orgasm. Sex for her was a routine she did with her husband, but it gave her no pleasure. When she first meets Leo, she is exhaustingly nervous. She fidgets, says all the wrong things, and just can't get comfortable. As she continues to meet with Leo, she begins to rediscover love-- not for another, but for her herself. At the end when she stands alone, looking at her naked body in the mirror, she doesn't seem nervous or sad anymore. She touches her belly and radiantly smiles at her reflection. It is an amazing moment for anybody who has started to see the affects of aging on the body. If we could all have a wonderful moment of self-acceptance and love it would be a better world.
This is not a love story between two people. It's a love story about loving your body, your desires, and yourself.
