The Sessions (DVD)

Ben Lewin writes and directs this Academy Award-nominated drama about the sexual awakening of a life-long polio sufferer. John Hawkes stars as Mark O'Brien, a writer in his late thirties who has spent his life lying horizontally in an iron lung since a debilitating childhood bout of polio. A poet and a romantic, Mark has lived a life devoid of sexual intimacy. When he is given the job of writing an article about the sex lives of the disabled, he arranges - with the support of his local priest, Father Brendan (William H. Macy) - to employ the services of sexual surrogate Cheryl (Helen Hunt). Their 'sessions' take Mark on an unexpected journey of discovery and self-awareness.