Beautiful Boy (2010)

Where do I start with this one?

 

Usually, when I feel a film doesn't live up to its potential I feel cheated. However, in this case, I was just glad it was over.

I got an advanced screening pass to see the theatrical feature film debut of Shawn Ku, whom I guess made an award winning musical short called Pretty Dead Girl and starred in a very good film called Samsara.  While I have to admit that he seems to have an excellent understanding of how to deal with actors and an understanding of their process to create a great performance, he does not seem to be as comfortable with finding a screenplay that is not a greatest hits album of cliches. The subject matter is compelling enough. However, it has some unintentional competition now that Lynn Ramsey's We Need to Talk About Kevin getting raves (but no awards)) at Cannes and Oscar buzz for Tilda Swinton, it's pretty clear that just making films about the parents of school murderers isn't enough to gain respect; the film itself actually needs to be good. Though the film is very well acted and photographed, its lack of style and story cohesion made it feel more like a movie of the week rather than a important drama about the loss of a problem child. The shift to college from high school was kind of interesting, but after suffering through the insufferable Meryl Streep film, Dark Matter, it just felt like too little, wayyyyy too late. Every twist and turn of the story felt more phoned in and cliched than the last until it reached it dramatically satisfactory yet painfully predictable conclusion.

I will say that the film's main cast deserves special recognition, even though their performances screamed Oscar bait. Why Maria Bello is not an Oscar nominee after her amazing work in A History of Violence and Downloading Nancy still baffles me. Here, she does pretty much what she does best (yes, I know she got a Golden Globe nomination for the former and Independent Spirit nomination for the latter, but still). Every scene she's in feels real and natural, even if she is a little too mannered sometimes. Having just seen Michael Sheen in Midnight in Paris, it was funny to see him emoting in his sometimes rather poor American accent. I feel he fit his character rather well, even if he does come off as too effeminate to be completely bland. I liked his choices with his transitions and his characterizations really worked. His angry scenes came off as believable and I felt sympathy for his character even though i could predict his every move before he made it, but that's the script's fault and not the actor's. The scenes where the parents separately talk to their dead son didn't really gain the dramatic inertia I thought they would. They felt tacked on ore than anything.

The supporting cast is rather good, if forgettable. Firefly/Serenity's Alan Tudyk always turns in good work. It's no different here. It really is starting to annoy me how they cast these school shooters as basically the same kid every single time. Is it possible that school shooters can have a hair style other than black and all over the place?

Watching this film with its unfortunate title and half baked screenplay made me yearn for it to be a two person play rather than a film. The suggestion of violence does not really work dramatically. The whole divorce arc feels too obvious. The characterization of the shooter is nothing new or remotely interesting. He is less "beautiful" than "stereotype." 

Overall, I urge you dear readers to be skeptical of the good reviews and buzz its getting from the festivals and realize that just because a film sounds like a good idea with good actors, doesn't mean the result will let you down any less. Don't be surprised if this manipulative dribble sinks like a stone in theaters, but is a big hit on Oxygen or Lifetime.