The Surrogate is both grade-A comedy and drama, grounded by an expectedly awesome performance from John Hawkes and an unexpectedly fearless one from Helen Hunt. It's got a great sense of humor and a deep emotional core that you might forget about during all the sex jokes... and there's a lot of 'em.
John Hawkes plays a man confined to an iron lung who sets out to lose his virginity before the "use by" date, as he calls it, approaches. Helen Hunt plays a sex surrogate who is assigned to help him, through progressively revealing sessions, figure sex out. The escalating attachment that Hawkes' character feels towards Hunt's leads to less than ideal results.
Deeply funny and intimate, The Surrogate explores themes of male sexual insecurity and loneliness with a kind of authenticity rarely found in films this funny. It's frank, profound and sexy without being gratuitous or exploitative. The Surrogate is a powerful, hysterical film that deserves a watch.
The Surrogate is competing in the US Dramatic Competition.
