The Leisure Seeker (2017) Reviews

• Must See film

  dnrteuer2018-01-21

  I saw this at an AARP pre-screening and found it to be funny and poignant. The entire audience, composed of young and old people, laughed aloud and applauded often throughout the film. Why? Because the topic, situations presented, and dialogue resonated with experiences common to the lives of everyone watching. The film addresses topics not often seen in films: intimate loving relationships and romance in the elderly, Alzheimer's, end-of-life issues and family dynamics involved, dying with dignity, personal choice, euthanasia and suicide. There is no preachiness; the viewers are respectfully left with an emotional invitation to reflect upon these issues for themselves. Remarkably, this is done with humour and grace, without self pity or undue sentimentality. The film is not Hollywood glitzy, it may even seem a bit drab at times, but this is part of why it rings true and makes the film work. Everything from the couple's home and basement, the RV they run off in, the campgrounds they stay in, and the nursing home they visit - all of it, remarkably familiar to most Americans. We are being asked to think about extraordinary issues relating to ordinary lives, similar to those we all lead, and it seems that this less glossy calling card works. This approach is also supported by the beautifully nuanced performances given by Mirren and Southerland as they let us into their world of romance, aging, family, incurable illness, and end-of-life choices, all while travelling the landscape of US Route #1. From start to closing credits, group laughter, applause, and cheering revealed a palpable comradery among the audience members, which told volumes about how well the film accomplished its goal of raising awareness of important emotional, personal, social issues while still offerring an enjoyable night at the movies. I hope you have an opportunity to see it.

• A film that transcends a myriad of problems. I recommend it.

  sylvia1202018-11-17

  I have been telling as many friends as possible about this movie. I am 85, a widow, and lots of my friends are my age or older. There were so many things that didn't quite ring true here....Mirren was wonderful but she isn't really able to sell a chatty woman with a Southern accent, less educated person than her husband. I've had several Alzheimers sufferers in my life and in many ways Sutherland didn't seem to fit the bill. For instance I wonder if he could really drive that house trailer. But, in spite of absolutely everything the total story rang true and had a strong effect on me.

• Marvellously emotional movie about a truely loving old couple's final big journey

  WinstonNoCGI2018-01-14

  The English movie title is misleading, the German title is much better. It translates to: "Smouldering remembrance" (there surely will be better translations, even more meeting the movie's true content). The movie is an emotional journey about an old couple that's been married for half a century. He once was a literate English teacher and she's been giving birth to two beloved children, who have their own families by now. The old couple's live has reached their final stage: He's suffering from Alzheimer disease and she's suffering from cancer. So they spontaneously decide to go on their last big trip, from Boston to Key West, to meet his lifetime wish of having visited The Ernest Hemingway Home once in his life - without telling their kids, who get anxiously concerned when they realize that their parents are not at home as they expected them to be. The trip that the old couple takes is a truely heart-warming story through their past. They take their old Winnebago and head out for Key West, revisiting not only the old camp sites they visited so often before but also revisiting stages of their life and their family, being aware that this will be the last big trip they will ever have together again. His dementia gives room for some funny moments but also for some truely sad. She attends him the best she can, but when they go back through their life, watching old slides on improvised personal slide shows they watch at their camp site stops, it's heartbreaking to realize that she will be losing him. The movie is a great emotional roller coaster ride of a beloved couple, of loving and anxious children and how our life may be like when it will have reached its final chapter. The movie is a so-called chick flick. Be prepared to have handkerchieves near at hand when watching it. Me and my girl friend had quite a few tears dropped while watching the movie. It may have affected us more than other viewers because it kind of reflected our life. We are about 50 years old and had a similar life, taking camping trips in an old Jeep Wrangler on our journeys to Italy. To be in the picture of the movie: I'm the demential (former?) literate driver, and she (who's even more literate) tells me where to head to and, whenever she can, she attends me so nicely (or tells me where to put it). We are laughing, talking, quarreling, and we get emotional ... So we felt very much like that old couple. (Well, at least I did. My girl friend felt with the old couple on their own.) ... And if we could have a trip like this at the end of our life, this would be one of the best final chapters I could think of for my life.

• A road trip of (and about) a lifetime

  2001ASOfan2018-04-13

  Films that try to earnestly, honestly explore and detail life experiences to hopefully illuminate and celebrate them--and maybe even help viewers deal with their own similar experiences--are films I always appreciate, even if I can't say I ended up enjoying watching them because the life experiences depicted are so difficult and inherently sad. I should also emphasize now, though, that "The Leisure Seeker" also tries to find the humor in this inherently sad situation, and succeeds at times: There are some very amusing moments. In an interview while promoting this film Helen Mirren said she took the role because the character she was playing was rushing into living and life rather than running away from it when it got difficult, and I agree. Interesting to find out in the closing credits that this is an Italian film production, with an Italian director (in fact, Mirren also said she always wanted to be in an Italian film because they were so inspiring to her when she was young, and it was also one of the reasons she took this role), so it is actually an Italian take on a very American story and road trip taking place in two distinctly different parts of America along the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Florida. I found it reflective and contemplative in a good way, and I was drawn in and glad I took the trip with them, even if I left the theater feeling melancholy and a bit afraid of what my later years may bring to me as well. Recommended, but be aware that your own life experiences may make this a darker or lighter film depending on what you've been through yourself.

• Growing old gracefully

  cyn-wolf2018-01-28

  When this came out to review, I fell in love with it. I told my husband it was us in a few years. He was always mistaken for Donald Sutherland also. I told him that when this comes out I hope that we are starting our RV traveling again, but unfortunately we couldn't as he passed away before his time. I do plan on seeing this film and will watch it over and over again.