Richard E. Grant, who received an Oscar nomination for his caddish Jack Hock in "Can You Ever Forgive Me," will forever be associated with another feckless character, his breakout role of Withnail, the vain actor who is broke and alcoholic — he drinks lighter fluid out of desperation at one point — in the cult classic "Withnail and I." Now add J.M. Sinclair in "The Lesson" to the roster of the many scoundrels Grant has played over the years.
In this juicy drama, Sinclair is a famous writer, who, with his elegant wife Helene (Julie Delpy), hires Liam (Daryl McCormack of "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande") to tutor their son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) to help him get into Oxford. As Liam observes the goings on in the household — Sinclair both treats his son with disdain and has a series of intimate sexual moments with Helene — the film suggests it may be a cuckoo in the nest story of a strapping young man seducing a troubled family.
