LAST CHANCE SALOON (TO LESLIE)

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There's a long tradition of movie actors playing alcoholics.

Sandra Bullock, Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Tilda Swinton, Bradley Cooper, Nicole Kidman and Emily Blunt have all taken on such roles in recent years.

Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, James Mason and Paul Newman have all been drawn to stories about people battling the urge to drink.

And now Andrea Riseborough has joined the list, landing a surprise Best Actress Oscar nomination in the process.

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But can she go the whole hog and join Ray Milland, Nicolas Cage and Jeff Bridges in winning an Academy Award for her performance? 

Much has been made of the successful lobbying for Riseborough's inclusion on this year's Best Actress shortlist by actors like Helen Hunt, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron and Jennifer Anniston

It has been argued this has been at the expense of Viola Davis or Danielle Deadwyler.

But to accept this argument at face value is to imply Riseborough is unworthy of this honour and take the shine off what is a phenomenal achievement.

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And that would be wrong because the Tyne and Wear born actress delivers a performance that is thoroughly deserving of its place in the shortlist.

It also overlooks the fact that Michelle Williams landed a Best Actress nomination for what is essentially a supporting role in 'The Fablemans'.

A modest movie directed by Michael Morris, 'To Leslie' begins with video footage of Riseborough's character on a news bulletin whooping with excitement as she is interviewed about winning a six figure sum in the Texas lottery.

A series of photos in the credits, though, show how rather than realising her dreams, the title character's life has descended into a bit of a nightmare.

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Six years on, we see her and her belongings being turfed out of a motel because she can no longer afford to pay for a room.

Leslie's pleas to the other residents to let her stay with them for a night are ignored, so she grabs her scuffed pink suitcase and sets off to find her 20 year old estranged son, Owen Teague's James.

Initially, James tolerates her presence - insisting Leslie can stay on the basis that it is temporary and that she doesn't drink.

Inevitably, Leslie's addiction gets the better of her, prompting James to turn to his grandmother Alison Janney's Nancy and her biker friends for help.

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The relationship between Nancy and Leslie is frosty but she and her boyfriend, Stephen Root's Dutch nevertheless agree to put her up until she spectacularly falls off the wagon.

Locked out of their home, Leslie sleeps rough outside a motel and scarpers when the manager, Marc Maron's Sweeney confronts her - forgetting her suitcase as she flees.

Running into one of Nancy's sleazy friends James Landry Hebert's Pete outside a convenience store, Leslie rejects his gauche sexual advances towards her after buying her some food.

She instead returns to the motel to gather her belongings and is amazed when Sweeney takes pity on her and offers her a job as a cleaner and also a room.

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But can she hold down her motel job and resist the urge to drink?

Will Nancy and her friends overcome their scepticism about her?

And will she patch things up with James?

Morris' film could easily be a run of the mill tale of addiction and life on the bottom rung of the US social ladder.

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However the movie is much more than that - thanks to Riseborough's compelling performance which dominates the movie.

Leslie has frittered away her one shot at a better life, by wasting the lottery money thanks to her addiction.

But the greatest tragedy of her life is how she has destroyed her relationship with James.

Conscious that there is a real risk 'To Leslie' could be a real misery fest, Morris and his screenwriter Ryan Binaco hold out some hope that she might be able to get her life back on track.

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However it is Riseborough who does the heavy lifting, imbuing the role with an authenticity that will strike a chord with anyone who has ever encountered an alcoholic in their life.

Leslie often appears full of good intentions but she all too easily falls back on drink to dull the disappointment in her life.

Inevitably, she disappoints those around her and when she is drunk, her behaviour becomes quite grotesque.

Yet as flawed as she is, Riseborough has us rooting for her character while also accentuating her vulnerability.

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It is a performance that not surprisingly overshadows everyone else in the movie - although Janney is too wily to allow herself to be totally blown off the screen by her co-star.

'The West Wing' star delivers a typically gritty performance as an angry relative who resents being drawn back into Leslie's messy life.

Maron also does a fine job as the kind hearted Sweeney, mixing loneliness and desperation with compassion.

Teague, Root and Hebert turn in sturdy supporting performances along with Matt Lauria as a handsome drifter and Scott Subiono as a rancher who Leslie tries to pick up in one bar.

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'To Leslie' is a decent indie underdog film that works hard to gain your respect.

It won't blow your socks off but it thrives, mostly on the back of Riseborough's deserved Academy Award nominated performance.

However the contributions of Maron, Teague and Janney shouldn't go unrecognised.

Riseborough deserves her place, though, at the Dolby Theater.

It would be a crying shame if the controversy around her nomination puts her off.

('To Leslie' was released in a limited number of cinemas in the UK and Ireland on November 4, 2022 and is available on digital platforms).