Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy - Dir. Shawn Ku (2011)

From Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine to Gus Van Sant's unsettling Elephant, many films have attempted to tackle the sensitive subject of school shootings. This year, two pictures are examining the consequences and impact these shootings have on the parents of the perpetrator. Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, has won rave reviews at Cannes and other film festivals. Though it was released earlier in the year, Beautiful Boy, which was partly inspired by the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, has yet to receive similar acclaim.

Michael Sheen and Maria Bello star as Bill and Kate Carroll, a middle class, suburban family with a son, Sam (Kyle Gallner), away at college. Bill and Kate's marriage is on the rocks with the husband growing distant while the wife plans a vacation in a desperate attempt to hold things together. Sam calls his parents one night and obviously seems depressed, but they don't pick up on it and simply tell their son to "study hard." The next morning, Bill and Kate awaken to horrible news that a shooting has occurred at their son's campus. Police detectives arrive on their doorstep and Kate immediately realizes Sam is dead, but the officers have more information to reveal. Sam was the shooter. He murdered 21 of his classmates before turning the gun on himself.

Bill and Kate are shocked and offer no answers to the authorities over what possessed their son to commit this unthinkable act. Unable to even comprehend these turn of events, the grieving parents are ostracized by their community and besieged by reporters with camera crews camping out on their front lawn. They seek refuge with at the home of Bill's brother, Eric (Alan Tudyk), and his wife, Trish (Moon Bloodgood). Kate unhealthily deals with her pain by occupying herself with meaningless house chores and mothering her nephew (Cody Wai-ho Lee), which inevitably irritates Trish. The Carrolls eventually hide out in a motel run by Meat Loaf where they attempt to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.

Beautiful Boy marks the feature debut of director Shawn Ku, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Armbruster. Ku employs a documentary style with numerous close-ups and minimal editing. Rather than cutting from one actor to another during a conversation, Ku commands the camera to swish pan back and forth. At times, the movements are hardly noticeable. At other times, it feels like an unnecessary usage of shaky cam.

The script itself is wrought with melodramatic moments and heavy handed elements. Kate works as a book editor. In one scene, she returns a manuscript to a prospective writer filled with marks by her red pen, which is obviously meant to enforce her image as a controlling perfectionist.

Since Beautiful Boy is a weighty drama, the acting is very showy with plenty of moments for the cast to rage at the top of their lungs or collapse into tears. If you're into that sort of thing, this might be right up your alley. Yet, the film is most effective during its quieter scenes with Michael Sheen delivering an understated performance when called upon. Alan Tudyk, known for his more comedic roles in Firefly and Death at a Funeral, gets the rare chance to flex his dramatic muscles and does a fine job. Kyle Gallner is typecast as the troubled teen, who only appears briefly in the opening and occasionally after that when the news broadcast his maniacal manifesto. One of the saddest scenes finds Sam reading a heartfelt poem that falls on the deaf ears of his apathetic classmates.

Beautiful Boy is the exact opposite of a feel-good movie. This is a tragic story that ultimately comes off as a made-for-TV movie of the week that was made to cash in on recent headlines. It's a well intentioned film that never hits the raw nerve it aims for.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

The Company Men

The Company Men - Dir. John Wells (2010)

Hollywood loves making movies with a message and the country’s economic collapse and slow recovery has been a hot-button topic. Two of the best films on the subject have been Up in the Air and Charles Ferguson’s fascinating documentary Inside Job, The Company Men doesn’t match their quality, but it is the most star-studded affair. This is a film that fits into the category of hyperlink cinema, a term coined by Film Comment’s Alissa Quart. Hyperlink cinema refers to a movie featuring multiple protagonists and interconnected storylines. Crash, Babel, and Traffic are a few of the more notable entries in the genre. Thankfully, The Company Men isn’t as heavy handed though it does suffer from being an utterly dry drama.

The Company Men takes place during the cusp of the financial crisis and revolves around GTX, a former shipbuilding concern which eventually grew into a powerhouse conglomerate. CEO James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson) makes the decision to shut down factories and initiate massive layoffs. It’s not just the blue-collar joes who lose their jobs, but the middle management guys as well.

Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is the first to feel the mighty axe of downsizing. He refuses to give up the trappings of his affluent lifestyle, desperate to maintain a semblance of success. Bobby continues golfing at the country club and driving around in a Porsche he can no longer afford. He’s also too proud to except any position that doesn’t come with a six-figure salary attached to it. Months pass by as Bobby remains unemployed and begins questioning his own self-worth, despite the unwavering support of his loving wife, Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt). Bobby eventually swallows his pride and takes a construction job with his brother-in-law, Jack (Kevin Costner with an iffy Boston accent).

Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) has been with GTX since the beginning, working his way up from a welder to a suit and tie position. His career was his life and he has no idea how to fill the hours of the day anymore. Phil also realizes he’s too old to go job hunting and that any lucrative openings will go to much younger candidates. With mortgage payments and a daughter (played by Steven Spielberg’s daughter, Sasha) going off to college, Phil finds his situation growing more grave.

Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) founded the company with Salinger and served as mentor and friend to Bobby and Phil. Through this latest downturn, the conscientious Gene has watched his best friend turn towards the dark side. His heart breaks as those around him concern themselves more about maximizing shareholder profits than they do about the lives that have been shattered. Thousands are unable to support their families while the company turns around and buys a swanky high-rise in downtown Chicago to be their new headquarters.

The cast also includes Maria Bello as the human resources exec in charge of the layoffs and Eamonn Walker as a sympathetic job seeker Bobby befriends.

The Company Men was written and directed by John Wells, a showrunner for acclaimed television programs such as ER, The West Wing, and Third Watch. This is Wells’ debut as a feature film director and he has a great support system with a solid cast and the amazing Roger Deakins as cinematographer. Deakins gives the film a slick look and there are several striking shots. One of them finds Phil looking forlorn amidst rows upon rows of empty cubicles. A slow realization dawns on him that he is the last employee left on his floor. As a former member of the West Wing staff, Wells throws in the requisite walking and talking tracking shot. On the whole, Wells’ direction is fairly straightforward as is his script. The Company Men deals with the economy in a blunt manner. The audience never has to guess what's on the characters' minds because they will spell it out for you.

The film also asks a lot in requesting viewers to sympathize with white-collar executives. Ben Affleck, who excels at playing a jerk, plays another jerk here. It's hard to feel bad for someone when their biggest troubles involve delinquent payments to the country club and not being able to afford his kid's X-Box. There's more empathy to be found with Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones. It's a testament to both actors who carry a potent amount of gravitas whenever they appear on screen. Jones and Cooper don't have to try hard to portray soulful and world-weary.

The rich have it bad too. At least, that's the message some may take away from The Company Men, a dull drama ripped from today's headlines. The Company Men isn't a particularly bad film. It's well-shot and technically sound. The performances by the ensemble cast are fine, but they aren't anything new. How many times have we seen Tommy Lee Jones play the sullen old timer? In the end, The Company Men offers no fresh insight into the problems plaguing this nation.

Rating: ** (*****)

Grown Ups

Grown Ups - Dir. Denis Dugan (2010)

I may be a cinephile, but I'm no stick in the mud. I admire the works of Bergman, Tarkovsky, and Carl Theodore Dreyer. Yet, I can also laugh at the genius of Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Waterboy. Sue me.

Over the years, Adam Sandler has attempted to stretch his acting muscles in roles that are drastically different from his usual shtick. Some are successful (Punch-Drunk Love) and others not so much (Reign Over Me). In Funny People, Sandler lampoons himself and his on-screen persona to surprisingly poignant effect. As the star and co-writer of Grown Ups, Sandler appears to fall back on old habits while mixing in a touch of the family friendly fare like Bedtime Stories.

Sandler reunites with his former Saturday Night Live cast mates as standout basketball players in junior high who have drifted apart over the years. Sandler is Lenny Feder, a big-time Hollywood agent. How do we know he's a Hollywood agent? Because when we first see him, he's shouting into his cell phone that he's a big-time Hollywood agent. Lenny is inexplicably married to Salma Hayek as Roxanne, a high class fashion designer. They've got three kids with the older sons being a pair of snotty, spoiled brats. Kevin James (in a role originally intended for the late-Chris Farley) is Eric Lamonsoff, the obligatory, fun loving fat guy. His wife, Sally (Maria Bello), still breastfeeds their son despite the fact that he's four. Chris Rock is Kurt McKenzie, the domesticated, stay-at-home husband to wife Deanne (Maya Rudolph). Rob Schneider is Rob, a vegan hippie with a fetish for older women, much older women. He's in a grotesquely risqué relationship with the septuagenarian Gloria (Joyce Van Patten). David Spade is Marcus Higgins, once again playing the smarmy ladies' man.

The old buddies are reunited following the death of their coach. Lenny rents a lake house for the Fourth of July weekend so they can reminisce. Meanwhile, the gang deals with the repeated challenges of their now adult opponents in the big championship. All sorts of shenanigans happen as everyone learns valuable lessons about life. The script co-written by Sandler and Fred Wolf (Joe Dirt) sets the tone for mawkish sentimentality right off the bat with a scene where Lenny's cutesy daughter tries to use the GPS to find heaven. Yet, they still have time to break out old-fashioned scatological humor. We get fart jokes, dog poop smeared into people's faces, adults peeing in a community pool, and Maya Rudolph sprayed with breast milk. The rest of the gags feel like in-jokes between the lead actors that the audience isn't let in on. Sandler and company insult and rib each other throughout the film, but it comes off as self-indulgent when Dugan continually cuts to reaction shots of the actors as they provide their own laugh track.

The film is built around immature humor, which is ironic for a film titled, Grown Ups. Still, the movie isn't a total loss thanks to a hilarious Steve Buscemi who pops in for a couple scenes. There's also an amusing exchange between Chris Rock and Tim Meadows as they argue over who is the town's black guy and who is the other black guy.

Rating: * ½