Dir/Wri: Sean Baker | Cast: Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Yura Borisov, Lindsay Normington, Emily Weider | US comedy drama 139′
This well-acted but overlong three-act social satire is as funny as it is poignant on the themes of sex-working, US class politics and misogyny.
Mikey Madison is terrific as the sex-worker at the centre of it all. Positive and good-natured in the role of an escort from Brooklyn, she meets and goes on to marry one of her clients, a young Russian oligarch. Transforming into a fable her fairy tale life path is then suddenly threatened when his parents arrive from Russian to quash her marital bliss.
Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora is raunchy, romantic, anarchic and exciting to watch; a modern free-wheeling farce that updates and refreshes the 1990 comedy Pretty Woman. Oscar worthy? – that’s for you to decide. Madison is certainly deserving of her Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Baker’s direction is rather messy but the film’s inspired story and the overall sensation of joie de vivre that it delivers carries it over it rough moments. @MeredithTaylor
OSCAR WINNER: BEST MOTION PICTURE, BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING |