Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy

It's 2001 San Francisco. Savannah Knoop (Kristen Stewart) visits her brother Geoffrey Knoop (Jim Sturgess) and his wife Laura (Laura Dern). Laura writes the novel Sarah under the pen name JT LeRoy with a picture from a thrift store. It's a fictional biography of a nameless abused boy whose mother Sarah is a prostitute in West Virginia. Laura has been giving a voice to JT on the phone and now she wants to use Savannah as the physical presentation of the boy. Laura pretends to be JT's British assistant who controls his every move. Eva (Diane Kruger) is a fan taken with the mysterious JT.

I'm getting a little tired of Kristen Stewart's intense reticent. She keeps doing the same moves. Savy is not the most compelling protagonist in this story anyways. This really has to be Laura's story. The only way to place her concluding speech in any context is to show her life. Savy doesn't seem to have agency at the beginning. It doesn't make her that compelling until she starts taking charge of herself. Whenever Eva comments on their phone calls, I keep thinking that the phone calls should be done on camera. Savy is the second or third most interesting character in her own story. It's an interesting story nevertheless.

I'm not familiar with the real story underlying this movie and the source material, but the very idea of it is fascinating. In terms of a narrative concept, it's fantastic groundwork for a full-length feature. A strong cast has been assembled, which is to say primarily Laura Dern and Kristen Stewart, but certainly also the supporting cast including Jim Sturgess, Diane Kruger, and more. The adapted screenplay developed between director Justin Kelly and author Savannah Knoopis wonderfully strong, filled with very complicated characters, wired dialogue, varied and tense scene writing, and a duly compelling, satisfying narrative. The crew working behind the scenes made fine contributions, including costume design, hair and makeup, lighting, cinematography, and editing. All the component parts are here for what should be a rich, absorbing viewing experience. So why does it feel like 'JT LeRoy' just never quite hits its mark?

To be sure, this is enjoyable, and I appreciate what everyone involved put into it. In every instance that could or should inspire a "eureka!" moment, however, the epiphany fails to arrive. Dern gives a dynamic, harried performance as Laura Albert that bursts with personality; Kruger isn't far behind, as Eva's obsession with JT increasingly jeopardizes the charade. Stewart's complex role as Savannah gives her an opportunity to once again demonstrate the controlled nuance that we know she has the skills to embrace. However, none of the acting truly pops with the vibrancy that would help to make the film the most impactful that it could be; it seems like the cast are somehow restrained from giving 100%. Similarly, the very premise is rife with drama; as the course of events progresses and wildly spirals out, the fiction woven by the characters increasingly teeters on an edge, making the viewer wonder just how it's all going to fall apart. In some indistinct way, however - even as slight airs of psychological drama flavor the edges of the plot - the utmost vividness is more brilliant in concept than in execution, almost as though the movie is coming to us through several panes of dirty glass. The full brunt of the story just isn't communicated.

As one last insult to injury, the final scene feels tacked on almost as if it were an afterthought, and it doesn't meaningfully add to the picture. The end result is a title that starts with a fabulous notion, but never especially seems to advance beyond it; it's very pretty mud that these wheels are stuck in, but they spin uselessly nonetheless. I don't dislike 'JT LeRoy,' and I do think it's quite worth watching on its own merits. All the same, the impression I'm left with is that we're just not getting the full power of what this may have been, and I'm a little disappointed. If you have the opportunity to watch then it's worth 110 minutes of your time - however, I just don't feel that this is something you need to go out of your way for, even if you're an especial fan of someone involved.

A one-word review of 'JT LeRoy' could simply be: "Almost."

5/10 - interesting true story doesn't translate well in this whacky indie

Based on a true story that was based on a big fat lie, J.T. LeRoy is first and foremost, a delicious vehicle for thespian wonder Laura Dern, and second, a bit of mishandled mess.

Messes can be good though, and this curious ride delivers the old truth is crazier than fiction roller coaster thrill of thin celebrity skin, and those infatuated with peeling back layers at all costs. A gender fluid teen, Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy was the pen name of Laura Albert. Which would have been fine, and in literary circles, not that uncommon, except that Albert decided to bring her greatest fictional character to life.

J.T. LeRoy, the film, zooms in on the tightening noose Albert has created with her tepid boyfriend's sister - a wonderfully understated, uncomfortable, unnerved, silly wigged Kristen Stewart. As the controlling director of white lie operations, Dern is fabulous as both the manipulative author, and as the uptight handler Speedy she creates to oversee her mystery puppet.

As complicated as all this all sounds, it is much more than that. The role of gender variations is a key underlying theme, and unfortunately, is fumbled. Too bad, cuz there is a pretty good movie here, and one helluva story.

The story is interesting, but the film is not particularly engaging. Laura Dern is great in the film, as usual. The rest is pretty bland, and does not leave a lasting impression.