Concussion

Bill I’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

Yes, there’s ostensibly a concussion early on to the main character, Abby (wonderfully portrayed by Robin Weigert, who was Calamity Jane in Deadwood), or what actually seems to be just a cut on her head (I never heard the diagnosis), and then she starts doing something new – high end escorting, just for women. She’s a lesbian, and has fairly stringent screening criteria, which her joans (female equivalent of johns?) must pass including the tea test (meet for a cup of tea). Oh, and she wants to work only on Wednesday mornings, when she can plausibly leave her picturesque suburb (Montclair, in fact an area within 3 miles of the theatre I viewed it at) and hang out in the loft she’s rehabbing in Manhattan. Initial very awkward encounters lead to a more profesional approach, and eventually she’s working every day of the week and getting “A” ratings. Her high end lawyer wife (remember, she’s a lesbian) notices nothing since Abby never fails to pick up her kids from school. Well, (spoiler alert), she does forget once and then her wife gets suspicious. But there’s no sex life at home, so Abby gets her rocks off with the paying clients, even becoming sort of friends to some her own age and mentor to a younger one. The story plays out slowly, and somewhat repetitively, and the sex is barely soft-core, but it held my interest. I was wondering how it would end: will she write a book and appear on Oprah and The View? Will her wife show up as a surprise client? Will she get turned off women and find a “cure” for lesbianism? Well, the actual ending is none of those and somewhat anti-climactic (final spoiler alert) – they decide to build a wrap-around porch, not shocking in Montclair which is filled with them. The so-typical surburan housewife life of spin classes, truckiing kids around, homework, boring chats in coffee shops, leads me to think how many women I know are hooking in their spare time? Hmmm, I’ll ask around.