There are some films that are just pure entertainment, meant for the masses to have a nice time and to relax for a few hours. Then there are some films that are in your face, making one question one’s own morals and thought structures. Beautiful Boy is that second kind of film.
The story is very hard to watch. It concerns a family that is living as three individuals in the same space. Mom Kate (Maria Bello) works as an editor for a publisher, looking for mistakes in manuscripts. Dad Bill (Michael Sheen) works to support the family and the upper-middle class life they have achieved. Both are distant to the son.
Their son Sammy (Kyle Gallner) is a confused young man. When we first see him, he is presenting a fiction piece to his college creative writing class. The students seem disinterested.
One day, the cable television news starts reporting of a rampage at the school where Sammy attends. Kate becomes frantic when she cannot get a hold of her son at school. She is sure that something has happened to her son. Then, the truth comes out – Sammy is the killer who has taken lives and eventually his own.
Mom and Dad are shaken to the core. At first, Kate doesn’t believe a word of it. Then, a gaggle of reporters attack our couple in the yard of their home. Bill has to make a statement to the media, finding out how hard it is to express his regret. As the world turns against the parents, they flee.
The two go to visit her brother Eric (Alan Tudyk). They find that there is truly no place to hide within the family system. Even when they are not at home, the media does everything they can to find Kate and Bill. The parents go through all the emotions of tragedy as they keep running.
They end up at a motel where the manager (Meat Loaf) basically becomes a surrogate for the audience. The ending is an explosion of emotions as the two confront what their son has done.
Maria Bello delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Kate. She is a shattered woman trying to get her mind around the unimaginable. She goes through all the stages of grief, while still mulling over the ‘Why’ of the situation. Michael Sheen is totally believable as Bill. Known for historic British roles, he delivers a perfect American accent. He is the stoic man, pushing his emotions to this tragedy inside until they burst like an overheated radiator hose.
There are so many details in the Shawn Ku/Michael Armbruster script that ring true. We have people breaking into the house, just to get souvenirs. When Kate shows the house trying to sell it, people sneak into Sammy’s room to take pictures. These morose little details hang like perfect little ornaments to the tree of tragedy.
Beautiful Boy is not only a hard film to watch, it is a hard film to discuss. It’s a story about total abject tragedy and how love can still find a way. I put in the category of a film like The Accused, the Jodie Foster movie from a few years back. It was a powerful film that didn’t have a set audience. Both are definitely not ‘date movies’ or ‘nice night out’ films. They are both in your face dramas that touch core emotions. Beautiful Boy is a really great little film that I never want to see again.
