The Leisure Seeker
What’s it about?
Ailing septuagenarians flee imminent nursing-home confinement by taking one final road trip in their beloved Winnebago.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: facing your impending death isn’t an everyday movie topic, and while The Leisure Seeker handles the topic with sensitivity and humour, the first half is meandering and turgid, seemingly to set up the far more entertaining second. Beautifully acted by Donald Sutherland as a retired professor in the final stages of dementia and Helen Mirren as his frail, doting wife, the film lacks the celebration of life it requires (and several opportunities exist within the film for these moments but are passed over for commentary on the frustration on human frailty).
Euthanasia advocates will appreciate this film, but people battling with depression would be advised to only see it with a friend.
