Good luck to you, Leo Grande – Review and Explanation – Movie 2022
Summary of the post
The following summary includes the list of the topics we will cover in our “Good luck to you, Leo Grande” review.
- The Story
- Trailer
- Where you can watch the movie
- What did we learn from Good luck to you, Leo Grande – (Spoilers Begin)
- What we did and didn’t like about the film – Pros and Cons
Did you watch Good luck to you, Leo Grande? – Spoiler Alert
In this post we analysed the film and therefore it contains spoilers. Make sure you have watched the movie. If not, check our movie introduction to discover the story, other curiosities and watch the trailer.
It’s always a pleasure and an honour to review such an exciting film. The Northman is a movie that can easily target some 2022 Oscars. It is because the cinematography and photography are top-notch, as well as the attention to detail regarding costume, jewellery, architecture, boats and weapons.
But behind all of this is a visionary view of the story, the scenes, and the mysticism behind the story. We loved The Northman, but not everything is perfect. The film is missing a magic ingredient to gain our 10 out of 10. And we will tell you more in the following sections of our analysis.
Good luck to you, Leo Grande – Review and Explanation
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What did we learn after watching Good luck to you, Leo Grande?
The voice of the critics
Can Emma Thompson win an Oscar in 2022 thanks to “Good luck to you, Leo Grande?” Difficult question. But for those who said a too quick “no”, let us tell you that she already got a nominee at the 2022 “Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards.” And let’s also add that the director, Sophie Hyde won the award for “Best Narrative Feature” at the “Provincetown International Film Festival” in 2022
We started by giving you a taste of how the critics approached the film. Is the movie worth an Oscar? Probably no, but indeed our time.
Let’s be honest. We approached the movie thinking of a silly comedy made for entertaining us. But we found a couple of interesting points we want to share with you. So, let’s boost our confidence.
What Nancy and Leo have in common?
The whole film is an internal journey that evolves in four meetings between Nancy and Leo. However, if we look at them at the beginning of the movie, Leo is confident about himself, about his beauty and skills. Nancy, instead, is full of insecurities and anxieties that have put her life on stand-by for a long time. But through the story, we realise that Susan and Connor are not so different from each other.
- They both have insecurities about themselves;
- they lied to their families;
- Susan and Conor both need someone who can listen to their stories and appreciate them.
So, we have four meetings, as we mentioned, because internal growth and discovering ourselves require time, patience and methodology, and the tasks list included.
We have two significant trauma at the origin of the story
Nancy never had an orgasm and never could enjoy herself to fulfil her duties as mother and wife. And all of this brings Susan to become Nancy, and, against her morals, she hires a sex worker to fulfil her question about life. So, Nancy is a repressed character with a solid religious and ethical teacher background.
On the other hand, Leo suffers the trauma of being rejected by his mother precisely because of his sexual behaviours. And probably, without going too deep into psychology, for this reason, Leo becomes a sex worker needing self-esteem but, most importantly, the approval of mature ladies. Almost like he wants to fulfil the missing affection and attention that his mother didn’t give him.
So, what have our protagonists taught us?
The first thing we want to highlight is that intimacy is not sex. Nancy doesn’t reach her orgasm by confronting her taboos, having sex with a sexy man or using sex toys to unveil repressed fantasies. She does it when Susan accepts who she is, her body’s imperfections and her needs, as dirty as they may be.
The director is telling us that time is too precious to be spent wondering how life could be; instead, we must act because our lives are not an unlimited subscription. After all, we need to accept that we have an expiring date. We understand we must do the best of our time by looking at Leo’s expensive tariffs for hours. And also, each of us is unique in our perversions, desires and needs.
Nancy’s character arch is clear
The evolution of Nancy is visible in another metaphor, the director tells us. Nancy is often insecure in front of the mirror. She can’t accept her “not perfect body” and is afraid to disappoint Leo. But in the end, probably in one of the most challenging scenes of Emma Thompson’s career, Nancy embraces herself naked in front of the same mirror. She is now able to accept herself and enjoy life. And Nancy is aware that there are no sins, just the desire and need to be happy and satisfy our thirst for life and new experiences.
The message behind the film is straightforward: love yourself so that you can love others.
The Nancy of the film’s first half is full of insecurities about herself, but also she seeks the approval of the society around her. Leo becomes her medicine to heal and embrace herself. Viceversa, Nancy helps Leo on dealing with his trauma and insecurities.
In conclusion, the movie touches on taboo-topics within our society, especially among older people. But the film also tells us how crucial are intimate connections, conversations and revealing ourselves to others are. And let’s take some moments to watch ourselves through this story. When we looked at Nancy’s insecurities, anxieties and fears, most of us probably laughed at her.
But we should never forget that we are exactly like her, as the apparently confident Leo showed us. Therefore, we need to learn how to listen to others and embrace ourselves in each imperfection and desire we may have.
How did Nancy reach her first orgasm?
The real pleasure is inside our minds, not in our bodies. The proof is that Nancy reached her first orgasm alone, not while playing with Leo. We should love ourselves and our imperfections; in the end, that’s our day-to-day life.
Most critics say that Emma Thomson was courageous in accepting such a role. But the movie tells us that being naked and not perfect is normal. We put taboos on our lives, and we limit our potential. Nancy completed her character’s arch and showed us the way.
We have some questions for you?
But before moving to our pros and cons about “Good luck to you, Leo Grande”, we want to ask you some questions. First, what would be the movie if the gender roles were different? What if we had a mature man inviting a sexy young lady into a hotel room to “explore” life and his repressed desires? Would we judge the film in the same way? Probably no, because prejudices are constantly with us. But let us know your opinion in the comment section below.
And secondly, do you agree with their idea of having sex workers as a council service? Would we solve more problems and make more people happy? Will this opportunity improve our society?
It is not legal, so please hang up your phone and don’t call your local council. They may misunderstand you. Instead, let us know your opinion about this possible new service in the comment section. We are already imagining the next local election campaign.
What did we like about Good luck to you, Leo Grande?
The film is a hymn to life. It’s the celebration of our imperfections because those make us unique in the world. And that’s a good reason to love ourselves. The director Sophie Hyde made an enjoyable movie. She plays very well with the limited locations and characters we have.
The chaos and the perfection of the room are the perfect way to describe the feelings of our protagonists. So the idea to let us celebrate and live our fantasies is valid. The director did almost an ideal job. Who did an incredible performance is Emma Thompson. It’s seriously one of the most challenging roles of her career, but she nailed it and inspired us. But let’s take a step aside from the film’s positivity because we want to tell you what we didn’t like.
What we loved is photography. In such a tiny space and limited location, the director created beautiful composition and played very-well with the lights and characters. We collected some photos in our movie review. Kudos to the cast!
What didn’t we like about Good luck to you, Leo Grande?
It’s always the worst part of the review when we need to highlight the downside of the movie. But, of course, the first elements are the dialogues. Although we laugh in several scenes, we think they could be more profound and meaningful. We say so because, in the end, Nancy is a teacher of ethics and religion; therefore, our expectations were a bit higher.
Another important aspect is the pace of the film. The feeling is that sometimes the rhythm becomes too slow and can distract that part of the viewers in search of actions. We have mental challenges, but often the scenes are too slow, and the comic sides of the film could be better developed. In the end, a good movie should try to entertain any watcher. Nevertheless, we loved and enjoyed the movie.
Our final rating for Good luck to you, Leo Grande is:
8/10
Did you enjoy Good luck to you, Leo Grande?
We hope you enjoyed the film. Let us know your opinion in the comment section. And let us suggest you a couple of great historical: Operation Mincemeat; Silverton Siege; The Last Duel.
Did you enjoy Good luck to you, Leo Grande? 🙂