The egos are as vast and thorny as the gardens on the lush estate of a prominent author in 鈥� ,鈥� an entertaining and erudite chamber piece about a master, a tutor and a family after loss.
This is a story that, in different hands, could have easily turned maudlin or melodramatic, but director Alice Troughton, writer Alex MacKeith and composer Isobel Waller-Bridge opted instead for wry lightness within the construct of a slow-burn thriller. It鈥檚 as though 鈥淭he Lesson,鈥� and everyone involved, is winking at the audience through the serious material that lingers, intentionally, on the fine line between pretentious and provocative.
, of 鈥淕ood Luck to You, Leo Grande鈥� and 鈥淏ad Sisters,鈥� plays Liam Sommers, an aspiring writer who has accepted a job tutoring the son of world-famous author J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant), who also happens to be his literary idol. But the film begins with Liam on a fancy stage, being interviewed about his novel about a fading patriarch and a grief-stricken family that the moderator calls one of the most striking debuts of the year. The movie is a memory prompted by that very standard interview question: What was your inspiration?
Anyone in the business of asking artists questions about inspiration knows, on a certain level, that at best you鈥檙e only getting a very brief version of one person鈥檚 highly sanitized truth. At worst it鈥檚 just a plausible sounding fabrication, safely constructed in the rearview mirror. J.M. Sinclair, in the YouTube interviews that Liam watches on repeat, coyly speaks about how all great writers steal but he鈥檚 not one, you imagine, who would publicly own any thievery. He is as precious about the singularity of his works and his talent as, in his words, the average writers who attempt originality and 鈥渇ail universally鈥� and the good writers who have the 鈥渟ense to borrow.鈥� But it all helps to plant the seed that you鈥檙e about to watch a literary heist unfold, though perhaps not the one you might expect.
The Sinclair family is the picture of upper-class posturing, with a household staff and a feigned formality fitting of someone who is always in control of the narrative, even at the dinner table in the company of only his son, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), and wife, H茅l猫ne (Julie Delpy). When he queues up Rachmaninoff as their dining music and Bertie protests, he challenges his son to give him three good reasons why 鈥� a snobbish test that only shuts down the conversation. It鈥檚 also quite the introduction to an author whom Liam has worshipped. Never meet your idols, etc, etc.
Liam is ostensibly there to help Bertie, a quiet and tortured Chalamet-type, prepare for entrance exams to study English literature at Oxford. But he has his own motives too 鈥� he鈥檚 writing a thesis about Sinclair and at work on his own book. Why would a family that insists on a nondisclosure agreement and utmost discretion hire someone with such a glaring conflict of interest? Well, that鈥檚 just one of the many mysteries for the audience to navigate in this maze of secrets, shame and scandals, including the somewhat recent suicide of the eldest Sinclair boy who was, it鈥檚 suggested, a more promising writer than Bertie.
McCormack, Grant and Delpy are a deliriously captivating group to watch. Grant, so adept at comedy, is prickly and terrifying as this intellectual tyrant who is unafraid to crush anyone in his path with casual cruelty, as when he asks Liam for help because he鈥檚 鈥渘ot a real writer.鈥� And McCormack once again excels at playing a shrewd, underestimated outsider. Liam has a few Tom Ripley talents up his sleeve that he uses to his advantage at key moments.
As Liam says of Sinclair鈥檚 newest book, the third act in the film feels like a bit of a jarring departure from the fun escalating tension of the first two acts. But 鈥淭he Lesson鈥� is worth a watch as a tightly crafted film made by and for adults unafraid of some rhododendron metaphors and casual Tchaikovsky talk.
鈥淭he Lesson,鈥� a Bleecker Street release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渓anguage and some sexual content.鈥� Running time 104 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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MPA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
