Movie Review: Ben is Back

Ben Is Back **** / *****

Directed by: Peter Hedges.

Written by: Peter Hedges.

Starring: Julia Roberts (Holly Burns), Lucas Hedges (Ben Burns), Courtney B. Vance (Neal Beeby), Kathryn Newton (Ivy Burns), Rachel Bay Jones (Beth Conyers), David Zaldivar (Spencer 'Spider' Webbs), Alexandra Park (Cara K), Michael Esper (Clayton), Tim Guinee (Phil), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Sally), Kristin Griffith (Mrs. Crane), Jack Davidson (Dr. Crane), Mia Fowler (Lacey Burns-Beeby), Jakari Fraser (Liam Burns-Beeby).

 

Ben is Back is the second film this awards season about a young drug addict’s frayed relationship with their ultimately supportive parent. The first was Beautiful Boy – which took a wide view on the character’s addiction, as he relapses several times over the courses of the few years the movie depicts. Ben is Back takes a different tactic – taking place all within 24 hours, as the young addict returns home from rehab on Christmas Eve to spend the day with his family, before heading back for sober living. I suspect, with the opioid epidemic showing little sign of slowing down, we’re going to see more of these films in the coming years. Both films try to do something different than the traditional narrative – I was think of the Sandra Bullock film 28 Days as the example of that – but both struggle at times with coming up with something better. I may well be in the minority here, but I much preferred Ben is Back though – which doesn’t repeat itself as much as Beautiful Boy does, and adds an element of a thriller in the second half – which while it isn’t quite as strong as the first, I think really dives deep into just how painful this process can be.

 

The film was written and directed by Peter Hedges, who has the good fortune to be Lucas Hedges’ father, because he is able to cast his extremely talented son in the lead role of Ben. Ben is an addict – and at times has been a dealer. As his stepfather Neal (Courtney B. Vance) correctly points out Ben is lucky that he’s white – because if he were black, he wouldn’t be at a fancy rehab facility, he’d be in jail. Anyway, Ben shows up, unannounced, at his family home on Christmas Eve – and while Neal is worried, as his Ben’s sister Ivy (Kathryn Newton), Ben’s younger siblings are thrilled – and even they cannot compare to how happy their mom, Holly (Julia Roberts), is to see her son. Ben tells them that his sponsor is okay with this trip, and he’ll head back the next day, etc. – and while he is only able to convince Holly that this is a good idea, that’s all he needs to convince. He’s staying.

 

But Christmas is a stressful time even when you aren’t an addict struggling with recovery. When you are, the house, the family, the town, etc. – can all be reminders of when you used. While Ben is good at pretending to be fine, he’s cracking inside. This only gets worse when Holly insists on bringing him to the mall for some new clothes – and he sees familiar faces, some of them he may still owe money to. This will set up the second half of the film, which is essentially a crime movie – with Ben trying to get from under his debts, and Holly trying desperately to hold onto him.

 

The movie is at its best when its just Hedges and Roberts in a battle of wills – pushing and prodding each other for power, lying to each other, themselves, the rest of the family – etc. as they try and convince everyone that everything is fine. In just a few short years, Hedges has become one of the best young actors around (just look at his list of films – Manchester by the Sea, Lady Bird, Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Boy Erased, Mid90s) – this is the start of a great career. For Roberts, like many actors who were once huge movie stars, aging out of that gives them the opportunity to do some more interesting work. This isn’t the type of role you could see the 1990s Roberts – all about comedy and charm – doing. She digs deep here, into a well of emotion – rage, disappointment, hope – and really does deliver one of her best performances.

 

Sure, the movie is perhaps a little too clichéd at points – right up until the end. But it holds you in its grip just the same, and uses its thriller elements to make some very real points about addiction and recovery. The film has flown under the radar this season – but it shouldn’t. It deserves to be seen by more people.