Ben Is Back
A mum’s bad Christmas…
Troubled teens are the must-have Squishies in Hollywood’s playground this season, with Boy Erased and Beautiful Boy already vying for attention. This low-key but intense family melodrama, in which Lucas Hedges’ recovering junkie Ben skips rehab, thereby sparking 24 hours of a crisis-ridden family Christmas, is a worthy if slightly preachy addition. It also earns itself a coveted place on the Unlikely Christmas Movie list, alongside Die Hard and Carol.
Lacking the splashy true-story cred of its rivals, it’s nonetheless a taut, nicely tense ride as mum Holly (Julia Roberts, on firecracker form) finds herself on a rescue mission with Ben when his dark past erupts again.
Writer-director Peter Hedges, Lucas’ dad – a specialist in dysfunctional family dramas such as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (novel and script) – initially creates a neatly observed portrait of escalating domestic tensions. Ben’s loving but wary kin veer from happy singalongs to hiding the prescription meds and jewellery. The film’s smart, too, about the opioid
crisis ravaging smalltown America’s kids (Roberts spits a maternal curse at the now dementia-ridden GP who initially got Ben hooked on painkillers).
Cornering the market in problem teens after Boy Erased, Lucas Hedges finds a savvy, fragile sweetness in the battered, self-hating Ben. His hangdog hero is so easily triggered and remorseful that we’re usefully unsure if he’s contrite or conning everyone. But as Ben’s misdeeds as a small-time dealer resurface, the film slips into an awkward, quasi-thriller mode that grinds the plot gears and strains credibility. Roberts rises to the challenge magnificently though, flashing her steely Erin Brockovich side in Holly’s desperate, law-breaking dash to save her family and her prodigal son. Kate Stables
THe VeRDIcT
Julia Roberts’ tough and tender mum on a mission elevates a touching but uneven drugs drama.