This movie feels almost ripped from the headlines, a heart wrenching story about a mother’s love for her opioid addicted son, desperately trying to help him find his way. “Ben is Back” is a compelling interesting twist on the traditional Hollywood family drama as it gives us an insight of the affects that one family members addiction has on the whole household.
“Ben is Back” is true gem for Academy Awards winner, Julia Roberts, who has had quite a golden age in recent years. Lucas Hedges gives a pitch perfect performance in his first collaboration, as lead actor, in a movie directed by his father, Peter Hedges.
Unfortunately for “Ben is Back”, it is not the only movie, this fall, dealing with a young man’s addiction, “Beautiful Boy”, deals with the exact same subject. And although it is hard (and not fair) to compare between the performances of Roberts and Steve Carrell or Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet, when it comes to the various academy voters they will have to make a choice.
The heavy use of a handheld camera and intimate closeups by cinematographer, Sturat Dryburgh (“The Piano”) give the whole movie a very unique sense of realism, which helps setup the bleakness tone of the movie.
One of “Ben is Back” big advantages, in my eyes, is that it does not feel it has to be preachy on the opioid epidemic, which is the backdrop of the movie, rather it gives the audience a very personal story of one family that is representative of a bigger narrative.
Even-though “Ben is Back” could not be considered an enjoyable entertaining movie, it certainly is one everyone, especially parents, should go see. I give it a THUMBS UP!
