Movie Review: "Beautiful Boy"

Beautiful Boy, 2010. Starring Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Kyle Gallner and Bruce French. Running time 100 minutes. Rated R. Directed by Shawn Ku.

Many films over the years have explored the subject matter this film deals with. From the ridiculously overrated (elephant), to the criminally unknown (the brilliant Home Room), mass school shootings are a staple of dramatic filmmakers. Sadly, most of these films deal with the sensational event itself, rather than the lasting effects to those left behind. Beautiful Boy explores new territory, and does so in a relatively pure and heartfelt manner.

Plotline is this: a troubled married couple (Bello and Sheen) are merely going through the motions, trying to hold a marriage together while looking for ways out. Their 18 year old son Sam (Gallner) is a freshman at a nearby college, who seems overly distant and quiet. One night, Sam returns his mothers phone calls...the family half heartedly discusses vacation plans and dad goes to bed after barely participating. The next morning, their world explodes as news of a mass fatality shooting has occured at Sam's college. Then, as mom and dad wait for news, the doorbell rings. Not only has Sam died, they learn, but he's the one responsible for the horror that day.

The couple then fights not only the outside world and its impressions of them, but their own demons and the demons Sam has left behind.

Maria Bello is the glue holding this film together. Her portrayal of a mom who wonders where she went wrong is painful and heart wrenching. You ache for her character not only as her marriage threatens to crumble, but as she learns and comes to grips with what happened. Michael Sheen compliments her brilliantly as the father who thinks he's in touch with his family but really wants out. There's a devastating scene in a hotel that sums up the frailty of the relationship as they're trying to put the pieces back together.

Director Ku may not have much of a resume so far (this is his third film), but he captured the heart and soul of a story not seen in this style of film before. You never see the parents of the shooters and how they deal (for that matter, till Home Room and April Showers, you never deal with the victims reactions) with not only the loss of their beloved child, but the fact that other peoples children are dead from his hand.

While not immune from the occasional obvious twist in the story, Beautiful Boy is an honest and powerful look at the way families rise and fall....to rise again.

A-