There are movies that entertain and then there are movies that make you think. When a movie can do both at the same time it’s an amazing feat. Unfortunately this is a rare occurrence and these movies usually fail. Such is the case with BEAUTIFUL BOY.
The story revolves around a couple on the verge of divorce. Married for some time Bill (Michael Sheen) is in the process of finding a new apartment. Wife Kate (Maria Bello) is planning a family vacation, one last time to go somewhere together with their son Sam (Kyle Gallner). Away at school, Sam seems bothered when he calls his folks one night. Why is apparent the next day.
While at work, Bill’s co-workers are watching the news and concerned about him. Someone has opened fire at the college where Sam goes and massacred a number of students there. Kate is told the same by her friend and neighbor whose daughter also attends the same college. Bill comes home to be with Kate and eventually the police show. It’s not just to notify the couple that Sam is dead, but to tell them he was the shooter and took his own life.
The rest of the film follows the parents dealing with the guilt and frustration they feel about the event their son has placed them in. Was there something they did wrong? Could they have foreseen what would happen? Why would he do such a thing? Couple this with the press hounding them and they begin to wonder if this all could have been their fault.
Leaving their home where reporters camp out daily, they spend time with Kate’s brother and his family. Each deals with the problem in their own way. Bill looks at things from an orderly point of view, making sure they issue a press release and keeping up a strong face while he mourns in private.
Kate is the emotional one, first denying that any of this could have taken place. She insists that their son did nothing, that he couldn’t have done something so heinous. When video of him ranting in a recorded message he left behind surfaces she must face the truth. But she still retreats into herself, attempting to subtly take the mother’s position in her brother’s home.
Eventually the couple leave and hole up in a motel where their various means of dealing with the problem shoots them up and down the emotional scale, one moment arguing with one another and the next falling into each other’s arms in love once more only to fight again the next morning. Neither one is prepared for what happened or for what is going on now. They just deal with it themselves in their own way, never completely offering each other the support that each needs at this time. Only time will tell if they come out of this nightmare stronger or defeated.
The film focuses not on the son and his deed but on the aftermath he leaves behind. While the characters are faced with questions about themselves and their family, for the most part they seem more concerned with themselves than with their son, they seem selfish to an extent. How one would deal with this sort of thing is hard to imagine but this couple seems intent on their own feelings and nothing more.
And this makes for a movie that offers two roles where critics and awards type shows will respond with praise but that viewers will watch with a certain amount of boredom. Running just over 2 hours it’s hard to sit and watch the pain and the self flagellation that goes on for nearly that entire time. Over and over again we watch them fight and seek someone to blame, more often than not taking the brunt of it all. And that’s a weight that anyone would find hard to handle. But that’s all the movie focuses on. It never offers any relief or solutions.
The subject matter is topical and something few of us would ever even consider thinking about and yet with the number of mass killings perhaps it’s something we should. One would hope that placed in the same circumstances each of us would be able to find some way of dealing with the problem and hopefully better than this couple does.
Watching the film is like placing yourself in the same situation. You feel nothing but sad and depressed. With each passing moment as they fail to find a solution you just keep begging that it will end. Some may think of this as art but for me it’s just a way to encourage depression. I’d rather spend my money on something else.
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