With the help of Liam and Lacey, Ben goes to the attic room and finds his old stash. Ben introduced Maggie to the drug, which seems to cause some amount of guilt in Bens mind. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018, and was theatrically released on December 7, 2018, by LD Entertainment, Roadside Attractions, and Lionsgate. While Dolly finds the cell phone, there is no whereabouts of Ben. Inline image. When Ben heads out on foot to locate Ponce, Dolly thinks it is good to go with Ben. I n its early scenes, Ben Is Back is more unpredictable and slyly entertaining than its earnest-sounding premise might suggest. It is all calculated emotional button-pushing. Ben Is Back has been added to your Cart . Ben has been in rehab for quite a few months, struggling with an Oxycotin addiction. We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. A woman hands her son a cup and tells him to provide a urine sample for drug testing; she looks away and tells him that she wont look at his privates (we see him from the back with nothing seen or heard). "Ben Is Back" hands down is the most emotional movie of the year. For the time, Ben only wants the dog back. The movie takes place over one day and a long night, so there's more discussed about Ben's history of drug use than actually seen. But this is one of those rare Hollywood movies that keeps you guessing, where you dont see the ending coming 20 minutes in. We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. View Cart . Should they believe him? Vendors are amongst the most vulnerable people affected. They search for Ponce together to no avail. Ben Is Back ends on a note of vague hope, but its a reminder that Christmas Day is just one more opportunity to take it one day at a time. Menu. By the time Ben and Holly are locked in a pieta-style tableau, with light shining from behind and above them, Ben Is Back has truly hit bottom. The maternal side of Holly tells Ivy and Ben that he may stay for Christmas before going back to rehab, but-. Ben completes the mission and gets Ponce back, but Clayton also gives him some drugs in return. She wants to have a good feeling about her sons return. But the performances remain uniformly strong and hold the story together, even as it threatens to spin out of control. A young man says that he got a young woman hooked and we understand that she is dead. The film begins when 19-year-old Ben Burns reappears in his house in Yonkers, New York, just in time for Christmas. A young man talks about having an arrangement with his history teacher for drugs (possible sexual activity is implied). Ben, unexpectedly home from rehab, scares almost everyone. Peter Hedges narrates a scene from his film featuring Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts. Ben's mom, Holly (Julia Roberts), is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Story of 19-year-old Ben Burns (Lucas Hedges), a young man with substance abuse issues who unexpectedly returns to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben (Lucas Hedges) has no father and has turned to overdependence on prescription medication. "Ben is Back," written and directed by Peter Hedges and starring his son, Lucas Hedges, is one of two recent films on teen addiction starring the most talented young actors of the moment (" Beautiful Boy " starred Timothee Chalamet.) A young man seems nervous when he sees another young man in a shopping mall. Ben is Backs troubled white guy plot may be wearing thin but the addiction drama has moments of brilliance, says Cath Clarke. As is the cost of rent. tipsy bartender emma break up; asl sign for coast guard Stuart Dryburgh of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fame came on board as the director of photography. Hedgess film may speak truths about issues of addiction and recovery, and the hell that addicts put their families through, but it cudgels viewers by having the characters talk about rigorous honesty" and truth as they obviously and ironically lie and connive. Holly is eager to make Bens unexpected arrival seem as normal as possible, laughing too hard at his jokes and buzzing about the kitchen in a flurry of activity. new video loaded: Ben Is Back | Anatomy of a Scene, Hi. By what name was Ben Is Back (2018) officially released in India in Hindi? Ben Is Back is a 2018 American drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges, and starring Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges and Courtney B. Vance. All Ben Is Back Videos. A woman takes her son to a cemetery and asks him where he wants to be buried. [Peter and Lucas Hedges never meant to make a movie together.]. As for Ben, hes 77 days clean. She tracks down Spencer, giving him drugs she had confiscated from Ben earlier, in exchange for him telling her where he might be. Ben takes note that there are no burglars, but at the same time, Ponce is missing. Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. So when the White House dodged the issue this week, I knew I had to talk about it. The disease of addiction can afflict anyone, anywhere, Hedges reminds us, just as Beautiful Boy did earlier this year. Follow him on Twitter. Julia Roberts films Ben Is Back in sub-zero weather https://t.co/kmKOaHd0oB #Yonkers pic.twitter.com/LPHHL3bZh3, YonkersRU (@YonkersRoundup) January 8, 2018. Meanwhile, shes trying to keep all the plates spinning for the rest of the family on this day of great expectations. Later at night, with little luck finding Ponce, Dolly and Ben try to reach a moment of clarity at a diner. Ben is in recovery from heroin addiction. Looks like shes gonna have you try on the whole store. I love what both actors are bringing to this scene. they are pretty mundane in a broken, contemporary world. Its like shes seeing him completely for the first time, and its shattering all over again. And Ben has a secret. Gary M. Kramer is a writer and film critic based in Philadelphia. Other Sellers on Amazon. 1. I thought you were dead, one guy at the mall says off-handedly. The crew filmed some scenes in Sloatsburg, a village in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County. Telling her she does not know the real "him," Ben reveals that his sponsor told him not to return home and that he did not get the drugs Holly found from a girl at the support group but rather hidden in the attic above his younger siblings' bedroom. All rights reserved. He blames himself for someone attempting to hurt his family. The film opens as he returns from his stint at rehab on Christmas Eve. Support our vendors to earn as much as they can and give them a fighting chance this Winter. But what if she cant? It's Christmas Eve, and well-heeled suburban mom Holly (Julia Roberts) returns home to find her wayward and recovering-addict teenage son, Ben (Lucas Hedges), pacing shiftily in the driveway. And since Clayton is the last person Ben imagined as the culprit behind the break-in, he does not want Dolly to go there. Later, Ben and Dolly head to a community session, and Ben meets another addict who used to score from him. Holly Burns returns from church on Christmas Eve to find her son Ben in the driveway; he has been in rehab for prescription drug addiction for some months, and says his sponsor said a trip home would be good for him. One of the cruelties of addiction is the way it strips away individuality, making all addicts stories the same. Oh My God, God, Jesus, Heaven Help You, Holy [scatological term deleted]). Ben is Back: Teaser Trailer 1 0:55 Added: August 24, 2018. Acclaimed director Peter Hedges (Dan In Real Life) reared the 2018 familial micro-drama movie Ben Is Back starring his son Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea). As they're returning home to finish Christmas Eve prep, there's an unexpected guest on the doorstep . Hollywood films about addiction tend to be tasteful, well-meaning awardsy dramas. But thats what Holly (and Hedges) does. She wants to support and protect her beloved oldest child without endangering or alienating the rest of the family, and in spite of everything that has happened she still has unwavering faith in her own maternal powers. Still, she hides her jewellery at the top of the wardrobe. The conflict is not his alone. Ben Is Back SUBSTANCE USE - A woman puts prescription medications from a medicine cabinet in a bag and hides them in a closet, a young woman tells a young man that he was her dealer, many people using drugs stand around barrel fires and seem high, a young man delivers money to a drug dealer and returns to another dealer with drugs (the dealer tastes the drugs and gives the delivery person a . Ben Is Back is a 2018 American drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges, and starring Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges and Courtney B. Vance. In a fast food joint she bumps into the familys old doctor, now retired, who first prescribed Ben painkilling pills aged 14 after a minor snowboarding accident. Theres this dangerous something coursing through him. He leaves Ponce in the car with a note asking whoever finds it to call his mom. Ben Is Back is really Hollys story, and notwithstanding the all-around excellence of the cast, its very much Robertss movie. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. A young man and his mother argue in several scenes; the young man shoves his mother during one argument trying to get her to leave him. But hes also apprehensive about going into certain rooms in the houselike the attic, where he used to stash his drugsfor fear of the memories theyll conjure. Subscribe to learn more about the movies you love! The cast and crew spent a significant amount of time in the Hudson Valley region. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Buy Tickets to Ben Is Back: https://www.fandango.com/ben-is-back-213738/movie-overview?cmp=CSYT_YouTube_DescWant to be notified of all the latest clips and behind the scenes footage? The scale and depth of the horror are beyond anything she had imagined. This movie chronicles 24 hours in the life of a family after the oldest son comes home from rehab one Christmas eve. Unlike the MPAA we do not assign one inscrutable rating based on age but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE & LANGUAGE on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest depending on quantity & context |more|, Print a page, share with friends, and yes, please go ahead and email links. Its not as interesting narratively or as relatable emotionally. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Alan Scherstuhl December 17, 2018 6:00AM In Ben Is Back, Julia Roberts (left) stars as Holly Burns, an ordinary woman struggling with the return of her teenage son (played by Lucas Hedges). It is almost laughable to watch Julia Roberts wandering around a site full of addicts on a dark winter night searching for her child. The film is actually most interesting to watch Hollys moral compass shift in any direction to help her son especially when she justifies his bad behavior to help him process his past actions. A young man says that his mother found him upside down on the stairs with a needle in his arm and that his dog was trying to keep him awake. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Vance, as the skeptical stepdad, takes a thinly-written role and makes it meatier. Nevertheless, the scene falls flat and feels preachy. The filmmaker previously made the enjoyable and piquant holiday-themed comedy-drama, Pieces of April, about a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving. While holiday shopping at the mall, Holly runs into Ben's former doctor, now an old man with dementia. He is entirely credible as an almost-grown man whose credibility has virtually collapsed, who is in a constant state of war with himself. But even more so, it's also a movie about redemption that reflects Jesus' lesson in the Book of Luke through a powerful illustration of forgiveness. Happy to see him but Holly is also wary, as she does not want his instability to affect the other children. As for whether there are sparks between Rodriguez and Shookus, a representative for the baseball star told Page Six "there is absolutely zero there," adding: "They've been friends for 15 years." Even after the menacing, hooded figure skulking around near the driveway is recognized as a son and brother (played by Lucas Hedges), the queasy feeling of terror doesnt quite abate. See also And then he reminds her, no, she didnt check everything. The film begins like a home invasion thriller as a young guy attempts to break into a house. Image Credit: Mark Schafer/BBP West BIB, LLC, Ben Burns, an athlete dealing with opioid addiction. The unit lensed scenes in St Johns Episcopal Church in Larchmont at 4 West Fountain Square. (Particularly so soon after another film about a privileged young addict Beautiful Boy.) Dec 21, 2018. It sure feels like it. And hes with his mother Holly, played by Julia Roberts. Her tics and her smile are overly familiar, but her performance does work when she is being empathetic. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. A man slams a passenger car window and pounds on the hood of the car as a woman and her son speed away. Theres this dangerous something coursing through him. Holly finds drugs on Ben and he claims a girl at the meeting gave them to him. And then watching how she can, on a dime, flip from the happy mom to panicked mom and fierce mom Where did you get this? [10], In July 2018, LD Entertainment, Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate acquired distribution rights to the film, which they released on December 7, 2018. Now, you may wonder where the film was shot. how to delete arbitersports account. Ben has something hes not saying. He uses the same outline here: theres a screw-up title character (Lucas Hedges, the directors son) with a suffering/domineering mother named Holly (Julia Roberts), an insufferably perfect sister named Ivy (Katherine Newton) as well as a benign-ish father (Courtney B. Vance) all hoping Ben doesnt spoil everything as he always does. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from the Big Issue and our partners. Theyve just come from a 12-step meeting. And Julias switch from happy mother shopping with her son to concerned and panicked mother is Mom, it was a joke. so powerful. Excuse me can I get a key to this door, please? This scene is a microcosm for the film that in Holly, at the beginning, you see the hope she has that this is going to be a fun thing. Now, with Ben is Back, director Peter Hedges has created something a little bit different: a half-and-half movie with plenty of standard-issue addiction drama courtesy of Julia Roberts as a suburban mum trying to keep her 19-year-old son off opioids at Christmas.But other scenes are directed with the pure . In Ben Is Back, Julia Roberts (left) . Review: 'Ben Is Back' Takes A Wrong Turn Along The Way The first half is a tense, painfully real family drama about the lingering toll of opioid addiction; the second half lurches into thriller . She has made sacrifices, worked hard, raised good kids and as a result has earned a certain amount of deference. In fulfilling the assignment, Clayton offers Ben a pouch of the drug to reward Bens service in the smuggling operation. Perhaps most notably, the new episodes show Wendy becoming increasingly reckless in her actionsspeaking publicly and repeatedly about her "missing" brother Ben ( Tom Pelphrey ), even though she. We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. His relationship with Julia Roberts as his mother, Holly, provides the film with its vivid heart. Lucas Hedges plays the titular Ben, a recovering heroin addict, and Julia Roberts is Ben's loving mom. If anyone can solve Bens problems can bring Ben back to the sweet, smart, decent boy he used to be its surely his mom. He wisely lets his actors act, giving them space to indicate so much in just a meaningful look. Can you please just exit the store? Yes. The range where they both go in the scene, the number of places they go, is emblematic of all the places we go in the film.. It was a crucial junction in the filming schedule. Bens intense dynamic with his mother, Holly Burns, and the subsequent effect of his addiction on the family form the core of the drama. Switch from happy mother shopping with her son to a community session, and that! 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