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Editorial Reviews
Beautiful Boy is an unconventional love story that explores the journey of a married couple on the verge of separation, who must live with unimaginable heartbreak, and find healing through the darkest days of their lives.
Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) hopelessly try to find some hint of an explanation after finding out that their only son committed a mass shooting at his university before taking his own life. They struggle numbly through the funeral, the media onslaught, and the awkward pity from relatives and friends. Their already strained marriage is tested as they realize all they have left with each other is their shared grief and confusion--and the unfortunate legacy of their son. This life-altering event forces Bill and Kate to face their feelings of guilt, rage, blame, self-discovery --and ultimately hope--so that they can finally see each other and their chance for happiness again with clear eyes.
Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) hopelessly try to find some hint of an explanation after finding out that their only son committed a mass shooting at his university before taking his own life. They struggle numbly through the funeral, the media onslaught, and the awkward pity from relatives and friends. Their already strained marriage is tested as they realize all they have left with each other is their shared grief and confusion--and the unfortunate legacy of their son. This life-altering event forces Bill and Kate to face their feelings of guilt, rage, blame, self-discovery --and ultimately hope--so that they can finally see each other and their chance for happiness again with clear eyes.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Up-to-the-minute As Tomorrow's Headlines and Brilliantly Acted / Directed
October 26, 2011
By James Morris
Format:DVD|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I must admit that the premise of this film did not excite me terribly at first glance, since I've seen too many made-for-TV movies filled with overly sentimental music and tear-jerking dramatics. Viewing the film, however, was both refreshing and dramatically satisfying.
Bill and Kate are the middle-class parents of college junior Sammy, a young man who has always been quiet and something of a loner. There is a tension beneath their marriage which is not readily apparent to anyone, not even to them. One night their son calls and sounds unusually quiet. The viewer is easily able to spot the sadness and confusion in his face, but Bill and Kate notice nothing over the phone, chatting only about planning the family vacation.
The next morning brings the news that a student has shot dozens of fellow students at Sammy's college. There is a lockdown and no information is coming out of the school. Worried as they are, Bill and Kate convince themselves that Sammy is fine - he rarely answers his cell phone anyway, Kate muses - until the moment when two detectives appear at their door. Kate screams, "He's dead, isn't he?" and their worst fears are confirmed. But then comes the unthinkable, "There's more" says the Detective, as he informs them that Sammy is the perpetrator who shot himself in the head after murdering so many of his fellow students. "LIAR!" shrieks Kate, "LIAR!" she repeats, as she collapses in disbelief.
They both take to bed, Bill in their room and Kate sprawled across Sammy's in his attic bedroom. After a short while, the reporters appear at their door and the television is endlessly showing Sammy's photo and a seemingly psychopathic video he made shortly before his rampage. Bill and Kate flee to Kate's brother's home, while they try to come to terms with Sammy's inexplicable killing spree.
The first thing that impressed me about this film was the superb acting. Michael Sheen ("David Frost" in FROST NIXON; "Tony Blair" in THE QUEEN) is nothing short of brilliant as the confused and grieving Bill. He's a good man, a good husband and a good father, but the events that unfold make him question if the tragedy could somehow be their fault. Maria Bello (THANK YOU FOR SMOKING) is extremely effective as Kate, believably and quietly wringing all the emotion one could expect out of the situation. But even more than their amazing performances, the tight script, effectively dramatic without any pathos or phony emotion, is as believable as one could want and plunges the viewer directly into the experience of the two shocked parents, as they deal with horribly cruel and judgmental comments on Sammy's Facebook page, childish, sadistic graffiti spray-painted on his tombstone, endless talk-show hosts who condemn them as parents without ever meeting them, and thrill-seeking teens who break into their home to "investigate" all they can about the "Psycho murderer." How many times have we seen headlines like this and thought, "It's the parents fault" without giving any real consideration to who the parents really are and how confused and saddened they must be to lose a child?
Equally impressive is the first-rate direction by Shawn Ku, who restrains the dramatics to the point of sheer plausibility and whose indulgence in hand-held cameras is neither excessive nor obtrusive. The best thing about it, it bears repeating, is the absence of maudlin emotions and tear-wrenching, sappy speeches or music. The scenes are all well thought out, extremely credible and ultimately satisfying. For a while, I thought they had stopped making films like this. The pedestrian premise initially prompted me to give it just four stars, but in the end I was so satisfied by this marvelously well-done, old-fashioned drama that I can't see how it deserves less than five.
Highly recommended.
Bill and Kate are the middle-class parents of college junior Sammy, a young man who has always been quiet and something of a loner. There is a tension beneath their marriage which is not readily apparent to anyone, not even to them. One night their son calls and sounds unusually quiet. The viewer is easily able to spot the sadness and confusion in his face, but Bill and Kate notice nothing over the phone, chatting only about planning the family vacation.
The next morning brings the news that a student has shot dozens of fellow students at Sammy's college. There is a lockdown and no information is coming out of the school. Worried as they are, Bill and Kate convince themselves that Sammy is fine - he rarely answers his cell phone anyway, Kate muses - until the moment when two detectives appear at their door. Kate screams, "He's dead, isn't he?" and their worst fears are confirmed. But then comes the unthinkable, "There's more" says the Detective, as he informs them that Sammy is the perpetrator who shot himself in the head after murdering so many of his fellow students. "LIAR!" shrieks Kate, "LIAR!" she repeats, as she collapses in disbelief.
They both take to bed, Bill in their room and Kate sprawled across Sammy's in his attic bedroom. After a short while, the reporters appear at their door and the television is endlessly showing Sammy's photo and a seemingly psychopathic video he made shortly before his rampage. Bill and Kate flee to Kate's brother's home, while they try to come to terms with Sammy's inexplicable killing spree.
The first thing that impressed me about this film was the superb acting. Michael Sheen ("David Frost" in FROST NIXON; "Tony Blair" in THE QUEEN) is nothing short of brilliant as the confused and grieving Bill. He's a good man, a good husband and a good father, but the events that unfold make him question if the tragedy could somehow be their fault. Maria Bello (THANK YOU FOR SMOKING) is extremely effective as Kate, believably and quietly wringing all the emotion one could expect out of the situation. But even more than their amazing performances, the tight script, effectively dramatic without any pathos or phony emotion, is as believable as one could want and plunges the viewer directly into the experience of the two shocked parents, as they deal with horribly cruel and judgmental comments on Sammy's Facebook page, childish, sadistic graffiti spray-painted on his tombstone, endless talk-show hosts who condemn them as parents without ever meeting them, and thrill-seeking teens who break into their home to "investigate" all they can about the "Psycho murderer." How many times have we seen headlines like this and thought, "It's the parents fault" without giving any real consideration to who the parents really are and how confused and saddened they must be to lose a child?
Equally impressive is the first-rate direction by Shawn Ku, who restrains the dramatics to the point of sheer plausibility and whose indulgence in hand-held cameras is neither excessive nor obtrusive. The best thing about it, it bears repeating, is the absence of maudlin emotions and tear-wrenching, sappy speeches or music. The scenes are all well thought out, extremely credible and ultimately satisfying. For a while, I thought they had stopped making films like this. The pedestrian premise initially prompted me to give it just four stars, but in the end I was so satisfied by this marvelously well-done, old-fashioned drama that I can't see how it deserves less than five.
Highly recommended.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I'll get this out of the way.
Brilliant acting.
Amazing direction.
Pacing, score, pretty much everything was brilliant.
Definitely worth a watch.
Here's why...
The movie is about your average married couple who's college age kid snaps and goes on a school shooting rampage before taking his own life.
My memories of Columbine and the other various school shootings over the years are still very fresh in my mind.
The one thing that I always wondered was how the families related to the shooters dealt with what had happened.
I think this movie does an excellent job of showing what these families go through.
When Columbine happened, I like many was the first to point my finger at the parents.
But what I've noticed about a lot of these shooters is that they're almost always late teens to early twenties. That's usually right when schizophrenia symptoms start to manifest in young men.
So no, in a lot of cases I think the parents raise the kids just fine and are just as baffled by what happened as everyone else.
I know it's of little comfort to the victims families but all too often the warning signs of mental illness go unnoticed.
The only thing we can really learn from tragedies like this are to better recognize the symptoms as well as finding better ways to treat people who are mentally ill before things escalate to such violence.
This was a very difficult movie for me to make it through.
If you cry easily, you better have tissue near by.
I did.
A powerful and disturbing movie that I'm glad I saw.
I probably won't ever watch it again it was too depressing.
It definitely left a mark on me.
Very sad.
As I said before I, like many pointed my finger of judgement at the parents.
That wasn't fair of me or anyone else to do.
Sometimes there are answers.
Sometimes there aren't.
Sometimes the answers, like mental illness only become apparent after the fact.
This movie made me think.
It made me cry.
It makes me hope that we find better ways of helping people around us who are in need of it.
An amazing and powerful movie.
Recommended.
Brilliant acting.
Amazing direction.
Pacing, score, pretty much everything was brilliant.
Definitely worth a watch.
Here's why...
The movie is about your average married couple who's college age kid snaps and goes on a school shooting rampage before taking his own life.
My memories of Columbine and the other various school shootings over the years are still very fresh in my mind.
The one thing that I always wondered was how the families related to the shooters dealt with what had happened.
I think this movie does an excellent job of showing what these families go through.
When Columbine happened, I like many was the first to point my finger at the parents.
But what I've noticed about a lot of these shooters is that they're almost always late teens to early twenties. That's usually right when schizophrenia symptoms start to manifest in young men.
So no, in a lot of cases I think the parents raise the kids just fine and are just as baffled by what happened as everyone else.
I know it's of little comfort to the victims families but all too often the warning signs of mental illness go unnoticed.
The only thing we can really learn from tragedies like this are to better recognize the symptoms as well as finding better ways to treat people who are mentally ill before things escalate to such violence.
This was a very difficult movie for me to make it through.
If you cry easily, you better have tissue near by.
I did.
A powerful and disturbing movie that I'm glad I saw.
I probably won't ever watch it again it was too depressing.
It definitely left a mark on me.
Very sad.
As I said before I, like many pointed my finger of judgement at the parents.
That wasn't fair of me or anyone else to do.
Sometimes there are answers.
Sometimes there aren't.
Sometimes the answers, like mental illness only become apparent after the fact.
This movie made me think.
It made me cry.
It makes me hope that we find better ways of helping people around us who are in need of it.
An amazing and powerful movie.
Recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Harrowing And Understated Domestic Drama Slightly Undermined By Reviews That Reveal Too Much
November 4, 2011
Format:DVD|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
The struggling married couple at the heart of "Beautiful Boy" have their lives altered by the most horrific nightmare imaginable involving their son. It is timely and excruciatingly unpleasant, the central tragedy should resonate with anyone concerned about alienation and random violence in the world today. To the movie's advantage, the DVD cover and promotional material has the common sense to NOT reveal the specifics of this incident. For the movie to achieve its maximum power, it is best to allow the content to be unveiled to the viewer as it unfolds to the parents. However, this subtle tactic is undermined by almost every review available on Amazon (including Amazon's own editorial description). It's an unfortunate miscalculation, in my estimation, as it eliminates much tension from the film's earlier scenes and detracts from one of the year's most harrowing moments. Writer/director Shawn Ku takes universal tragedy and shifts the focus in an unexpected and very personal way. By doing so, he has given Michael Sheen and Maria Bello two of the most underrated roles (and performances) of the year.
Sheen and Bello play an affluent, yet struggling, couple on the brink of divorce. As they are making important decisions about their lives together, some crushing news about their college-age son smashes their existence. Suddenly, they are at the center of a public maelstrom. Everything they thought they knew has been stripped away and they are left with nothing but each other. Trying to make sense of what happened and simultaneously trying to move past it, the couple attempt to navigate a powder keg of emotions. And the story is very much about Bello and Sheen and how they cope. Will this incident pull them back together or destroy them forever. Part of the nuance of Ku's screenplay is that it allows that they are each their own person, and their reaction to the event and its aftermath is very separate (even as they are forever intertwined). Filled with regret, recriminations, and humiliation--is it possible to move on? And where does ultimate responsibility lay when unimaginable things occur?
"Beautiful Boy" is a smart and sophisticated piece of work. Despite the opportunity for emotional grandstanding, Bello and Sheen remain remarkably grounded and utterly real. At times, you might wish the movie offered more insight into just who their son is. He is never developed (as a conscious decision), but the enigma of his character lingers all over the movie. I mean if his parents, who by all accounts had a close enough relationship with the boy, are clueless--it's hard for the viewer to contextualize what happens. Still, the movie is sensitively wrought and offers two compelling performances. Sheen, as always, executes in one of his most emotional roles. But it is Bello that has the chance to surprise. I've always liked Bello, but her resume veers all over the place from top tier work to grade-B schlock. This time, she's chosen right and her brittleness has rarely been used to such affect. This is definitely a movie for adults who appreciate serious minded filmmaking. An easy recommendation--its power comes from its understatement. About 4 1/2 stars. KGHarris, 11/11.
Sheen and Bello play an affluent, yet struggling, couple on the brink of divorce. As they are making important decisions about their lives together, some crushing news about their college-age son smashes their existence. Suddenly, they are at the center of a public maelstrom. Everything they thought they knew has been stripped away and they are left with nothing but each other. Trying to make sense of what happened and simultaneously trying to move past it, the couple attempt to navigate a powder keg of emotions. And the story is very much about Bello and Sheen and how they cope. Will this incident pull them back together or destroy them forever. Part of the nuance of Ku's screenplay is that it allows that they are each their own person, and their reaction to the event and its aftermath is very separate (even as they are forever intertwined). Filled with regret, recriminations, and humiliation--is it possible to move on? And where does ultimate responsibility lay when unimaginable things occur?
"Beautiful Boy" is a smart and sophisticated piece of work. Despite the opportunity for emotional grandstanding, Bello and Sheen remain remarkably grounded and utterly real. At times, you might wish the movie offered more insight into just who their son is. He is never developed (as a conscious decision), but the enigma of his character lingers all over the movie. I mean if his parents, who by all accounts had a close enough relationship with the boy, are clueless--it's hard for the viewer to contextualize what happens. Still, the movie is sensitively wrought and offers two compelling performances. Sheen, as always, executes in one of his most emotional roles. But it is Bello that has the chance to surprise. I've always liked Bello, but her resume veers all over the place from top tier work to grade-B schlock. This time, she's chosen right and her brittleness has rarely been used to such affect. This is definitely a movie for adults who appreciate serious minded filmmaking. An easy recommendation--its power comes from its understatement. About 4 1/2 stars. KGHarris, 11/11.
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Overall, this is an intense journey down the rabbit hole of a pretty unpleasant dramatic story.
So, if you're not into that, don't watch this movie. Read more
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