J.T. LeRoy

R

Released Apr 26, 2019

1 hr. 48 min.

Drama

TRAILER

for J.T. LeRoy: Trailer 1

List

56%

86 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be the celebrated author JT LeRoy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Feb 28

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent J.T. LeRoy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

While it may leave some viewers wishing for a more in-depth exploration of its story and themes, J.T. Leroy offers a diverting dramatization of incredible real-life events.

Read Critics Reviews

Andrea C

Storia vera non particolarmente originale ma comunque dai contorni interessanti. Nella sceneggiatura però non funzionano le personalità dei personaggi che, nonostante le buone interpretazioni e la bravura della coppia Dern e Stewart, appesantiscono notevolmente la pellicola. Troppo difficili da assimilare i comportamenti, i dialoghi urlati e le posizioni difficili da comprendere. Tutto contrapposto ad una musica e a delle sequenze che riportano alla commedia che però stridono fortemente con quanto scritto sopra.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

JT LeRoy (2018), directed by Justin Kelly, is a dramatic film, with twists and turns, based on the memoir 'Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy' by Savannah Knoop. It stars Kristen Stewart (Savannah Knoop aka JT Leroy), Laura Dern (Laura Albert), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Sean), Diane Kruger (Eva), Jim Sturgess (Geoff) and Courtney Love in a cameo appearance as Sasha. It's a dramatic re-telling from the perspective of Savannah Knoop of the literary scam/hoax pulled off by Laura Albert, her sister-in-law, and the author of two semi-biographical books, 'Sarah' and 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things', later debunked as fake. Savannah Knoop is roped into masquerading as JT Leroy, the literary persona of Albert's two books. JT LeRoy is a former teenage sex worker, and a boy. The androgynous looking Albert, dressed by Knoop in a blond wig and dark sunglasses, resembles the look of JT to a tee. Albert gets into the action too by acting as JT's handler, Speedie, who speaks in an affected British accent and takes on an irritating personality to go with it. The American public lap it up and the pair are so convincing that along the way they ensnare Hollywood and European celebrities in their spider web of tales and lies until a journalist from the Guardian finds them out. It's a marvelous case study about deception and the blurred boundaries between imagined and real identity and the meaning of authenticity. It's an intriguing film exploring the themes of duplicity and authenticity, two sides of the same coin, and the motif of art imitating life imitating art. Films about grifters and scammers intrigue me and we have a real whopper here as the exploits of Savannah Knoop and Laura Albert, the ring leader, are romanticized and glamorized for the big screen. It's a romp of a film glorifying the anti-hero as protagonist and raises intriguing questions of identity both imagined and real, and the motif of unhealthy narcissism, and the love of ego. Kelly weaves together many visual elements and editing techniques to create an intriguing film juxtaposing the narrative of the hoax against the simmering tensions, conflicted emotions, and hostilities between the characters. The filmmaker uses interstitial titles starting with a pertinent quote from Oscar Wilde "the truth is rarely pure and never simple" at the beginning of the film to naming the cities and places (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Tennessee, Cannes) where the narrative unfolds to structure the film, and ending it with the title 'one year later'. The film is made up of a stellar cast where Stewart, Dern and Kruger are allowed to play out complex scenes and show us their chops. I highly recommend the film for its acting, superb cinematography, and dialogue. It's an entertaining film about grifters and a cautionary tale on a grand scale that me think that we are perhaps, susceptible to scams, so, we'd better listen to our guts, y'all!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

tom m

Moderately interesting and entertaining. I still don't get the appeal of Kristen Stewart.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

We just finished watching JT LEROY I found the overall movie to be a good film! the soundtrack with the exception of the Courtney Love song at the end could have been a lot better I thought the acting was great! this story I find so sad! such a great writer as Laura Albert who is for all intents and purposes a tortured genius of an artist who through her pain in dealing with her own life and history created and thrived through her "Avatar" JT Leroy bringing so much pleasure and even helping some readers of her books cope with their own life traumas through her stories THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD MAKE HER WORK VALID! Does it matter that her books were fiction? or that JT LEROY as real person doesn't really exist??? I'm reminded of the 1947 film "Miracle on 34th St." in which a old guy calling himself Kris Kringle replaces a drunken store Santa, Kris gains a Huge following spreading his joy as Santa Claus and is eventually charged as a fraud! in the end though it can be proved that Santa is just a legend thousands of cards and letters addressed to Santa were brought into the courtroom and dumped on the desk in front of the judge. True to form people reacted to the spirit of the man calling himself Santa to them he was Santa Claus!!! JT LEROY was fiction! Get over IT!! But his voice and spirit is very much alive in a very talented writer named Laura Albert aka JT LEROY

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very interesting real story of the writer. Kristen Stewart always great in her non-commercial roles!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

steve d

Laura Dern is completely unconvincing and Stewart (who is normally great as well) is left with little to do in the story, but give in to her worst instincts as an actress.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Justin Kelly

Director

Kristen Stewart

Savannah Knoop

Laura Dern

Laura Albert

Jim Sturgess

Geoffrey Knoop

Diane Kruger

Eva

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Sean

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

19%

39%

The Aspern Papers

TRAILER

for The Aspern Papers

86%

76%

The Wife

TRAILER

for The Wife

72%

62%

My Salinger Year

TRAILER

for My Salinger Year

59%

68%

Charlie Says

TRAILER

for Charlie Says

55%

37%

Maine

TRAILER

for Maine

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Avengers: Endgame Is Certified Fresh

J.T. LeRoy: Trailer 1

2:18

View more videos

View more photos

Katharine Coldiron

Bitch Media

Kristen Stewart is note-perfect as the androgynous, uncomfortable Knoop - alluring in spite of her awkwardness, intelligent and well-spoken when she decides to speak, constantly on the brink of fleeing any room she's in.

Mar 12, 2021

Full Review

Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

Dern brings a hungry, manic energy to Albert... while Stewart's performance is typically interiorised and exacting.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 18, 2019

Full Review

Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

[Y]ou simply can't look away.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 16, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Fonseca

Vague Visages

JT LeRoy is a movie suiting those who, at minimum, can entertain the idea that we might not get what we desperately want.

Apr 2, 2024

Full Review

CJ Sheu

Review Film Review

Identity is overrated. If Nicolas Bourbaki can do it for math, why can't JT for literature?

Oct 5, 2021

Full Review

Ben Turner

The Pink Lens

It fails to level any criticism toward either guilty party and sits firmly on the fence about whether they did anything wrong, nor does it level any real analysis of how manipulative Albert actually was.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 1, 2021

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be the celebrated author JT LeRoy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

Director: Justin Kelly
Executive Producer: Tyler Boehm, Tracy Christian, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Margot Hand, Jere Hausfater
Screenwriter: Justin Kelly, Savannah Knoop
Distributor: Universal Pictures Content Group
Production Co: Fyzz Facility Film One, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Sobini Films, LBI Entertainment, Elevated
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Language Throughout|Brief Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 26, 2019

Most Popular at Home Now