[yasr_overall_rating]
A runaway couple goes on an unforgettable journey in the faithful old RV they call The Leisure Seeker.
Had I seen the trailer for this movie I would have passed but instead I went in with a blank slate. Thank goodness too because this movie was brilliant and a thousand other adjectives. The slow moving pace almost hindered the fresh plot but was necessary and keeping with the lives of the elderly Spencer couple. Even the flaw was not a flaw nor was it fatal but could cause some to lose interest due to dreary eyes.
William (Christian McKay) arrives at his parents’ house ready for a family dinner only to find the house empty and the family trailer missing. Jane (Janel Moloney) and William spend the next several days by the phone waiting for word from their elderly parents. The grown-up children’s presence serves only to remind their aging parents John and Ella Spencer (Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren) of their impending entrance into nursing homes. So the couple leaves their troubles behind to climb into the family Winnebago, named The Leisure Seeker, for one last road trip together.
Despite years of age and decay, the RV rambles down the coast, headed for Key West, Florida, and the home of Ernest Hemingway, the only destination still on the retired couple’s bucket list. John and Ella love each other as if they were in a Nicholas Sparks novel and find their love even more all-encompassing on miles and miles of concrete. Every aspect of the trip is comfortable and familiar, from the stops to fill up the gas tank, to the scenery, except for a few complications. Like the RV, life has caught up with them but they refuse to give in without a fight. Every night Ella takes off her hair before nestling into the tiny camper bed next to her husband of decades who has accidents and often forgets who he is due to dementia.
At each new campground, Ella reminds John of their life together with a slideshow of yellowed family pictures telling the story of their lives. By day, they drive closer to their goal, living their life side by side, aggravating and loving each other in equal amounts. Ella carries the heavier burden as John needs her not just to be his memory, but also his nursemaid, student, best friend, and lover. John does his part to show his deep affection and respect for his beloved Ella when she is too weak and in pain to carry out a task.
The trip comes ripe with laughter from life’s little trials. Despite how rough the years have been to their bodies, John and Ella fight off two boys playing criminals by bringing a gun to a knife fight before warning the boys to finish school. Along the route, secrets from years together boil over due to John’s dementia and spill out ugly secrets. Ella retaliates in the most hilarious scene by dumping John off without ceremony at a seedy nursing home before heading back to the RV. Like with every other trial the couple face, she knows life without John is not worth living and picks him back up to continue towards Key West. What a treat when the couple has a row over a past love interest of Ella’s. John wears jealousy well with his white beard and powder blue sports coat.
By the time the trip ended in a breathtaking climax, the audience was as in love with the couple as they were with each other. We felt their joy as our own, their tender moments lost in each other’s eye and then laughed until we cried over their antics all the funnier because of their years of wisdom still left them to act as children. I fully intended to leave the theater dragged down by a sluggish movie and tiresome plot but left content from a film finished with finesse. Italian Director Paolo Virzì finds the magic in decades of living together and caring for each other. Not just beauty that is easily found, such as in bringing a child into the world or a wedding day, but beauty in cleaning up after each other, forgiveness, and tired eyes. I am sure someday when my days are numbered, this movie will feel too close to home. But life is in the small moments added together not just big events scattered throughout. What a pleasure “The Leisure Seeker” was to watch. I hope the theater fills to the brim with this surprising gem.
In theaters Friday, March 16th
