The Leisure Seeker
starring Donald Sutherland, Helen Mirren, Christian McKay, Janel Moloney, Dana Ivey and Dick Gregory
screenplay by Paolo Virzi, Francesca Archibugi, Francesco Piccolo and Stephen Amidon
directed by Paolo Virzi
Rating: ◊◊♦♦♦
The film is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Michael Zadoorian. It stars Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren as an elderly couple, John and Ella Spencer, who - against their adult children’s wishes - sneak off in their old 1975 Winnebago camper nicknamed “Leisure Seeker” for one last trip. (I can dig the recreational vehicle thing. When I was growing up my family regularly vacationed in a Dodge Travco bus my dad nicknamed “The Roadrunner.”) The two are dying, Ella of late stage cancer and John of dementia. The two are able to make the trip because, despite his condition, John still has long periods of clarity. But in the course of the story we witness their medical challenges impinging more and more on their mobility. In Japan the movie is called “The Long Vacation.” It’s not a bad name.
I was looking forward to seeing two great actors, Sutherland and Mirren, working together. They’ve worked together before, but that was a long time ago. The film was okay, but nothing exciting, no sparks flying. Maybe flying sparks is the wrong kind of expectation from a story about an ailing elderly couple. It was a little dull watching them do normal recreational vehicle stuff - stuff I know well because my family used an RV for many years in my childhood, and I am full of memories. When John suffers episodes of profound forgetfulness it just made me squirm. He is always saved by Ella. But the two cannot be separated because they rely on each other so much just to get by and do normal things that younger people take for granted.
The couple have two children, a son, Will (Christian McKay) and a daughter, Jane (Janel Moloney). Will is freaking out by his parents’ road trip and never stops calling his mother throughout the film. Will is an annoying asshole.
I completely missed Dick Gregory until I saw his name in the credits. I immediately went back and found him. Once I knew who I was looking for he was easy to spot. Playing former boyfriend Dan Coleman, I think this was Gregory’s last acting role before his death in 2017 at age 84.
Apparently, this is Paolo Virzi’s first feature-length English language movie.