Already told (better) on the big screen in Jeff Feuerzeig’s documentary Author: The JT LeRoy Story, the tall but true literary scandal is bolstered by two stellar performances from Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern. If as a drama it ultimately fizzles, Justin Kelly’s enjoyable film finds engaging mileage in the gulf between private lives and public facades and what happens when these two opposing states crash into each other.
Stewart is the gloriously named Savannah Knoop, an unconfident, crop-haired waif who comes to stay with her big brother Geoff (Jim Sturgess, quiet and understated) and his girlfriend Laura (Dern) in the big city. Laura is a rising author writing under the pseudonym J.T. LeRoy about a tough life on the streets (of which Laura knows nothing), conducting phone interviews using a different voice. But when Laura wants to take the sham to the next level, she persuades Savannah to play J.T. in person, donning a blonde wig and huge shades. The con is on.
Laura Dern is a tour de force of mannerisms and energy, but Kristen Stewart is the MVP.
These early attempts at bringing JT to life are compelling and fun, adding more layers of subterfuge when Laura inhabits the persona of JT’s British publicist, Speedie. But when the film has to complicate the story — by giving Savannah a romantic interest (Kelvin Harrison Jr), then introducing Diane Kruger as an actor-producer wanting to bring JT’s story to the screen to become a love triangle — it loosens its grip as the story gets caught in a repetitive groove as Savannah/JT is presented to the world at parties, literary events and finally the Cannes Film Festival. Kelly’s filmmaking shows admirable restraint — Tim Kvasnosky’s electronic score adds another level of mystery — but it also means that JT LeRoy never really explodes into memorable drama. The exposé and fallout of the scam — which could have been emotionally fertile areas — are given short shrift as the film sprints to wrap itself up.
Still, it wins out on its two leads; Dern is a tour de force of mannerisms and energy, gloriously toggling between three different personas (her cockney accent is a hoot), but Stewart is the MVP, fragile, introspective and malleable, perfectly revealing the new impulses Savannah discovers during her time as JT. There is a meta story going on here – Savannah’s exploration of her own queer identity seems to mirror Stewart’s – and the actor excels in the kind of gender fluid role she seems born to play.