A Really Bizarre film about Opioid Addiction
Ben is Back was supposed to earn Julia Roberts her fifth Oscar nomination for Best Actress last year. A movie that earned mostly good reviews and centering on the opioid crisis seemed perfect. Unfortunately this screenplay is so bad, that I can see why Roberts (and Lucas Hedges) were passed over. The movie is a big mess, and confusing at that.
Hedges plays Ben, a drug addict returning home for Christmas. His mother (Roberts) and snooty husband are not happy or trusting he's back because of his past behavior. We find out Ben wasn't just on Vicodin. He was addicted to things with needles too. His cynical sister is quite cruel to him in the opening scenes, making her unlikable.
Even after Ben promises not to abuse drugs over and over, Roberts doesn't believe him. She insists on driving him around in the car a lot, going to malls, bumping into "old acquaintances", like the family doctor. "You don't remember my son? The one you kept upping the dosage on for pain meds? I hope you die. Merry Christmas." This is the type of blunt and silly dialogue that comes out of the screenplay. I cringed when Roberts said this to the doctor. It is not the doctor's fault her son became a junkie.
Ben goes to a meeting, where he bumps into a girl who claims he was her dealer. Ben and his mom return home to find their house robbed and the dog missing. What was once a druggie family drama is now a "who dun it" murder mystery. Again into the car we go, as Julia keeps dropping F bombs and demanding to know why Ben had "deals" with people like his history teacher.
The dumbest scene is when she drags him to the cemetery and says "Pick a spot. Pick where I will bury you." You can see the lines coming from pages away, and everything is forced and contrived. Not once does Roberts call the police and press charges on the lunatics that keep hitting her son, or worse- smashing her car window. I won't say what happens next.
Ben is Back features Lucas Hedges in yet another role of suppressed teenager. He keeps getting cast as the same part. He was in Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri. He was nominated for Manchester by the Sea. Playing the same character. Timothy Chamalet would have been a far more inspired casting choice for a teenager dealing with addiction.
If you want to see a more realistic and FOCUSED movie on a druggie returning home from rehab, watch Rachel Getting Married (2008) with Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger. It's must more potent, and Hathaway doesn't go around whining and "apologizing" for her past behavior. She's still dealing with addiction, as that's what most junkies are coping with. Hedges plays his role like some Marvel superhero. And Julia Roberts has never been so over the top since her hamfest in August: Osage County (2013)- which, ironically, had her in the same position- only this time the roles are reversed and she's a daughter dealing with a drug addicted mother (Meryl Streep).
If Ben is Back had remained focused like the first 45 minutes, it would have been stronger. But it gets worse as the minutes tick off, and we realize most likely the screenwriters were changed.
FINAL GRADE: D