Hulu: “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” starring Emma Thompson
There’s one scene in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a new Hulu flick, that’s genuinely moving. When Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), a sixty-something widow, asks Leo (Daryl McCormack), her twenty-something sex worker, to take off his shirt, she gazes silently at his sculpted body.
She asks to touch his shoulders, his chest and other body parts, looking upon the young Adonis with unbridled lust. Apparently, this retired school teacher has never been so close to such physical perfection. We are tickled on her behalf.
Otherwise, GLTYLG is a mildly amusing, if somewhat stagy two-hander that shows escort and client can connect in a way that extends beyond sex. It also gives us the opportunity to see Thompson bare her boobs, and mouth very un-Thompson-like words to describe the lifetime firsts she wants from her sex worker (an orgasm is on the list).
The real find here is McCormack, a mixed-race actor who is every john’s idea of the perfect escort: sensitive, empathetic and well-spoken. He can even pronounce the word “concupiscence” correctly.
Written by Sophie Brand and directed by Katy Brand, the film’s (empowering?) message is that women can feel good about their bodies, enjoy sex, and if circumstances warrant, pay for it. Just like men do.