I never heard of Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy until I saw the preview for Author: The JT Leroy Story, a documentary about the real story behind this famous titular name. I recall having zero interest in seeing the documentary in theaters because it felt as if I would be perpetuating the problems surrounded by this persona if I financially supported the film, but when it was available to stream on Amazon Prime, I added it to the queue with no sense of urgency to watch it. I only leapt at the prospect when a feature length film, JT Leroy, also became available for home viewing and featured a talented cast. The idea of a viewing marathon seemed appealing to me and my mom because one of the few viewing experiences that we both enjoy are movies based on real stories. So on one rare Saturday when mom was willing to break her rules and watch movies all day, we embarked on a journey to learn more.
I have no idea if the premise of JT Leroy is a spoiler or not. If you are familiar with the real story, then it is not, but if you are not, then it would be; however even reading a brief summary of the movie will spoil it so here goes. Kristen Stewart plays the protagonist, Savannah Knoop, the person pretending to be the titular character, but is actually the sister-in law of Laura Albert, the woman who envisioned him, actually wrote the books and spoke to people on the phone, whom Laura Dern plays. The film is an adaptation of Knoop’s memoir, Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy.
JT Leroy’s cast excited me more than Author: The JT Leroy Story’s preview. Laura Dern has always done solid work, but after her counter intuitive, literally breathtaking performance in Star Wars: Episode VIII- The Last Jedi, I basically wrote her a blank check and added this film and Trial by Fire to this queue just because I saw her name. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is a chameleon whom I never recognize: It Comes At Night, Monsters and Men, Assassination Nation, Luce, The Photograph and Waves. Even if his movies leave me unsatisfied, his work is undeniably superb and fearless with enviable range. At the time, the film’s biggest detraction was Kristen Stewart because it was before I saw her in Seberg, Charlie’s Angels and Underwater so I considered her painfully one note albeit with an intangible fascinating quality that made you hope that she would live up to the hype.
I watched Author: The JT Leroy Story immediately before watching JT Leroy, and I prefer the prior, which is unsurprising considering that I generally prefer documentaries over dramas; however the real plot twist that after my mom was left clutching her pearls in the wake of the riveting documentary’s adult themes, my mom greeted this movie with a sigh, “This movie is boring.” You know that a film may have failed if it failed to capture the slightest interest of an eighty-year old woman. Since we are less watching Savannah and more watching Savannah pretend to be a fictional character, it is not as interesting as watching people reflect on what transpired, especially since Stewart plays Savannah. If I was really into Stewart’s personal struggles with balancing fame and her personal life, maybe I would appreciate the meta narrative, but unlike her performance in Seberg, this one is just a flat dud. Her character is the least interesting one on screen because the story starts as if her life began at that moment. I am not invested in the protagonist because I do not miss or know her.
JT Leroy also acts as if Laura is the evil mother to two siblings, the protagonist and her brother, Laura’s husband, Geoff. Everyone was an adult and agreed to this insanity for a very long time. I am not saying that it was a healthy, normal relationship, but it feels like a complete abdication of responsibility to suggest that they were not complicit. By all means, show the perspective of the people whom Albert swayed with her charisma, villainize Albert, but it is incongruous with the more intriguing theme of empowerment, the ability to fully explore the selves inside of you, which felt like the real soul of the movie and a missed opportunity to explain why people were willing to go along with such a bananas act for so long. It must have been exhilarating, but the filmmaker is more transfixed by the seduction of simple morality instead of exploring the texture and nuance of such an extended act. On some level, it was not an act.
To be really countercultural and amoral, i.e. enter a possible headspace of someone who would execute such an elaborate scheme, JT Leroy could have embraced the theme of the liberation of women to discover and be who they really are by exploring the world free of the labels that usually define them. It is the embodiment of an inner revelation and revolution that Shirley MacLaine alluded to as an inner democracy, and I ridiculed for its lack of practicality. This story shows how to transform the inner self into the real world, but it is messy as is the spectrum of humanity. When the film ends, and the protagonist returns to the banality of daily life, it is only in its absence that the filmmaker begins to convey the joy of freedom.
Instead JT Leroy gives us parallel romantic love interests as a battle over the protagonist’s soul, and I was invested in neither lover winning since Savannah and JT Leroy as three-dimensional individuals are never fully explored. Again, we have a protagonist that allows herself to be defined by other people: her domineering sister in law, her lovers, her career. In the lovers’ case, they are either equally ill-defined or possible sexual predators/exploiters using love as a grooming technique.
Dern is the real star of JT Leroy. Her character, whether perfectly depicted or horribly wronged, is memorable and vibrant. “Nobody listens to me as me!” She is a frustrated, needy hustler, a reimagining of an evil stepmother in a fairy tale, jealous of other women. Her sexual orientation may be heterosexual, but she is a brilliant seducer. If the movie was centered around her, it would not have been a snooze. Even completely dehumanized and turned into a magnificent schemer, she would have made a great movie.
Oddly enough, I have no desire to read any of Albert’s books, but JT Leroy was so flat that the translation from page to film definitely lost Knoop’s voice that I am planning on reading Knoop’s memoir. I already know Albert’s story thanks to Author: The JT Leroy Story, but on film, even though Savannah is supposed to be in the film’s spotlight, Knoop once again takes a back seat to the creator and creation so reading about her in her own words will hopefully do her story more justice than this film did. While I do not regret seeing the film to savor Dern’s performance, this film fictionalizes some of the more salacious and practically challenging aspects of the story that it feels as if punches were pulled just to make a bland, forgettable story out of a humdinger. Skip it!