Review of The Leisure Seeker (2018) by Dave M — 25 Mar 2018

"The Leisure Seeker" (R, 1:52) is a 2017 comedy-drama directed by Paolo Virzì (helming his first English-language feature film) and based on the 2009 novel of the same name by American novelist and short story writer Michael Zadoorian. The film follows an elderly married couple on a road trip in their 1975 Winnebago from their home in Massachusetts to Key West, one last big vacation, planned by Ella Spencer (Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren) so her husband, John (2-time Golden Globe winner and honorary Oscar recipient Donald Sutherland), can finally visit the home of his idol, Ernest Hemingway.

The couple's adult children, Will (BAFTA nominee Christian McKay) and Jane (Janel Moloney, a TV veteran, best known for "The West Wing"), come close to panic when they realize their parents have left home in that old RV of the film's title. Not only are Ella and John old, but Ella is in treatment for an unspecified illness and John, who does all the driving, has unspecified memory issues. Ella sometimes calls to check in and even answers her children's cell phone calls on occasion, but only to reassure them that the couple is alright - not to reveal their location or destination - or to be talked out of anything.

While Will and Jane stew (especially the high-strung Will) and argue, Ella and John have the vacation of a lifetime. Along the way, they meet people to whom they talk at length (Ella about her family and John about Hemingway), strengthen their bonds with each other, relive old memories (partly to reminisce and partly to help John hold on to those memories) and they struggle with the effects of their respective illnesses. There's also a subplot in which John repeatedly accuses Ella of wanting to go to Florida to reconnect with her boyfriend from 50 years ago. However, none of this takes their focus off the goal of reaching Key West - allowing questions about past relationships and current situations to be answered.

"The Leisure Seeker" takes Movie Fans on a charming, but uncomfortable trip. Mirren and Sutherland make for an adorable couple (especially Mirren, doing well with a South Carolina accent), but it's more uncomfortable than entertaining to watch Ella and John suffer (especially when Ella alternates between being sympathetic to John and acting like she doesn't understand what's going on) and also struggle to come to terms with their mortality. The pleasure in watching these two fine actors create and develop these likeable characters is more than outweighed by lazy writing & plotting and uneven directing. "C+".