Beautiful Boy (2011)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I watched this film last night, two weeks after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, where some virtual bystanders are still wringing their hands about how "normal" and "sweet" Suspect #2 was. The parents are angry and either in utter denial or (at least with respect to the mother) in silent conspiracy, claiming that the brothers were framed and they could not have been terrorists. The characters and plot line in "Beautiful Boy" resemble the Sandy Hook horror even more closely. Imagine that Nancy Lanza was not killed by her son and that Peter Lanza still lived at home, unhappy and on the verge of moving out. Their anguished discussions, how they individually deal with the guilt and grief, their desperate investigation of their son's life for clues as to how and why, the blame and heartbroken accusations that they hurl at each other - - these are so spot on that the film can be uncomfortable and unnerving. The movie also masterfully captures the wide spectrum of others' reactions. The brother and sister-in-law who offer their home and as much love and sympathy as they can, but still emit occasional flashes of blame and fear for how their own son could be impacted by their presence. A young author who the wife believes is a friend, until she finds him hunting through her son's belongings for material for the book he wants to write. The open house held for the home, where media vultures, neighbors with cameras, and the thrill-seeking curious thoughtlessly devour the cookies the wife baked, hoping that they would make the house smell better. Michael Sheen and Maria Bello play the roles of husband and wife with precision and depth. Moon Bloodgood (soon to return in the upcoming "Falling Skies" season) seems somewhat dispassionate and impersonal in her interactions with others as the sister-in-law, but that is a criticism I have for most of her performances. The scene where she expresses frustration to her husband about Maria taking over control of the home comes across as rehearsed. Alan Tudyk (currently in "Suburgatory") as the brother is more sympathetic to the plight of his family, but also displays a limited range of emotion. The son, played by Kyle Gallner, is mesmerizing in his few moments of screen time, and I feel that the movie would have been much stronger if we were permitted to see a little more of his college environment and the days leading up to the shooting.However, I recognize that is the very point of the movie - - we want to understand how people make these terrible decisions, but we never can see enough evidence because ultimately there is nothing that can justify such evil. The parents, who are arguably the ones who should have the best chance of understanding their children's motivations and conduct, are often as lost and confused as the rest of the world, with the added component of trying to comprehend the degree of their own culpability. Those dynamics are nicely captured in this film.

Watch this if....you want to see some first rate acting hold together a dull storyline. Acting/Casting: 7.5* - Honestly, this is the only part of the movie that is worth your time. Bello and Sheen are really good and portray their parts with some true passion. The supporting cast is good, but those two really shine.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5.5* - I don't know how to explain it, but I was utterly bored. I watched an hour in the first viewing and turned it off due to the dull content and finished it the next day. The second day didn't provide much more fulfillment either.Plot/Characters: 5.5* - A married couple is having issues and their son is having some issues as well. More focused on their own troubles, the couple must deal with the aftermath that ensues after their son decides to kill himself and others in a college mass shooting incident. Sounds intriguing, but really is a letdown.Entertainment Value: 5.5* - I don't care that it was an independent film and that it was a character study, the movie was plain boring. The acting is the only thing that makes it watchable and that alone doesn't carry it. Watch with caution and not late at night.My Score: 7.5+5.5+5.5+5.5 = 24/4 = 6.0Email your thoughts to [email protected]

I saw a quick preview of this film and instantly bought it. I had never seen a film made in the perspective of a shooter's parents before and i was wondering how it would be made. I think that this film was well-made. Nothing to jump off the roof about, but definitely not a cringer either. What i enjoyed most was watching the dynamic of the about to split up couple go through it's ups and downs--it was VERY realistic and i appreciated that touch there. Although, i would've been happier to know more of the details about the shooting and why the son did it--but i guess just like in real life, you never really know why mass shooter's do these things. You just be a good parent and hope for the best. I enjoyed the heart in this film.

Very bland.. The shooting should have happened in the middle of the movie- instead, it happens right away before you get to know the characters or feel anything for them-there's no contrast to the movie-the acting is not the best either--or the directing. We know everything in the first 5 minutes. What's the point of watching the rest of the movie? you skipped right over the boy and the school. There is nothing to compare the tragedy to.After 5 minutes i was bored. It was shot on video and looks like a home movie.It never touches you because we don't see enough of their lives before hand. We cant see the reason he does what he does. How are we supposed to feel anything for anybody when there's no getting to know anything about anybody?-with the exception of a 15 second phone call. I really wanted to like this movie- it could have been really touching but it stayed in the same mode through out the whole movie from the beginning. The characters were colorless