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. Theres brilliant stuff here about recovery and how addiction destroys the fabric of a family. And hes with his mother Holly, played by Julia Roberts. 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. Dolly seeks to accept Ben, but Ben has ways to mess things up. The film opens as he returns from his stint at rehab on Christmas Eve. But shes not paying full attention. Whereas it appears that a few shots were recorded outside the strip mall as well as the Haas Pharmacy at 62 Orange Turnpike. Bens a charmer and a talkerhell burst into a silly song to amuse the little onesand its clear that hes trying strenuously, as well, to make his return a happy one. Not added . Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. When Holly loses Ben, she searches for him not unlike George C. Scott in Hardcore going into the seedy world of pornography to find his lost daughter. Meanwhile, Ben has relapsed into drugs, and Dolly has to decide whether to part with Ben. As is the cost of rent. Ben is Back review - Julia Roberts can't save middling addiction drama Strong performances from the Oscar winner and Lucas Hedges enliven a patchy film about a mother dealing with the return of. The project was announced in October 2017, with Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts set to star. [Read our critics top 10 films of the year.]. 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 . Ben owes Clayton a great deal of money since he takes a wad of cash and Dollys expensive necklace to make it square. Dolly heads to a store to change the kit since it has expired, but they do not deal with such medications. REVIEWS Its been a long time. Clayton, according to Ben, is a dangerous person, and Ben is not ready to risk Dollys life when he meets Clayton. But even a scene set the safe space of a 12-step meeting, where Ben cracks jokes and tries to earn sympathy,comes off as disingenuous. We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. Its not as interesting narratively or as relatable emotionally. He exploited his wifes prescriptions to become a drug dealer, and Ben perhaps owes him some money. See ratings & reviews at Critics.com. GreatMartin. Writer/director Peter Hedges asks viewers and its main characters to spend an uncomfortable 24-hours together on Christmas Eve. The hometown is mundane and suburban, but the camera looks for an exit from nature, reinforcing the fostering image. But shes not paying full attention. He has been to rehab a few times, and his return brings more menace than peace for the family of Dolly Burns ( Julia Roberts ), her second husband, Neal Beeby, and the family. $12.49 FREE Shipping Get free shipping Free shipping within the U.S. when you order $25.00 of eligible items shipped by Amazon. Back to the Future (1985) Universal Pictures. Ben concocts that he took the drug from the girl at the meeting, but he later comes clean that he found the bit in the attic room. There is a scene where Julia Roberts' car breaks down. Ben Is Back has been added to your Cart . Ben's mom, Holly (Julia Roberts), is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. At the restaurant, Ben meets his old buddy Spencer, who now goes by the name of Spider. She seems like a woman accustomed to getting her way, not because she is complacent or overly entitled but because she expects the world to recognize the moral authority of motherhood. All Ben Is Back Videos. Spencer seems drunk and in bad shape but has enough strength to knock Ben over. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. hockeydabeast413 live feed man in love taiwan movie why did alice leave tattoo fixers cosmetology school lawrence, ks rtgs vs pesalink. 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. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe. Ben was written and directed by Peter Hedges and it's clear it was crafted for his son, who stars as the titular troubled young man. 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 plot follows a mother who tries to help her addict son after he returns home from rehab. After looking for Ben all night, Holly is overwrought and goes to a police station. Holly finds drugs on Ben and he claims a girl at the meeting gave them to him. Gary M . But Julia Roberts puts everyone in the shade, even Hedges one of my favourite young actors (he played Casey Afflecks nephew in Manchester By the Sea). 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. In addition, the team toured Mamaroneck, lensing a few enticing sequences on location. Ben introduced Maggie to the drug, which seems to cause some amount of guilt in Bens mind. All of which leaves Bens mother, Holly (Julia Roberts), in an agonizing position. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here. Filming took place in the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club, a country club located at 555 South Barry Avenue at the mouth of the Mamaroneck River. Lucas Hedges plays the titular Ben, a recovering heroin addict, and Julia Roberts is Ben's loving mom. 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 starts at the mall, where she sees the elderly physician whose painkiller prescription she blames for Bens habit, and where Ben crosses paths with an old acquaintance. Dec 21, 2018. Ben has been in rehab since he nearly died after becoming hooked on painkillers resulting from a sports injury, a habit that eventually led to him selling drugs to young people in the neighborhood, incidents that neither Ben, the drug dealers, or the victim's and their families will ever forget. People and institutions doctors, police officers and pharmacists, as well as her kids are supposed to listen, and to accede to her wishes. Was Ben Is Back, about an addicts unexpected return home, meant to be a holiday hate-watch? Some filming also took place in New City, a hamlet in the Clarkstown municipality. We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits. human shock collars for sale vampire movies 1940s movie themed team names. In contrast, an episode where Holly vomits after piecing together what Ben did to get his history teachers Oxycontin is a bit much. What they dont say to each other is as important as what they do say. Filming reportedly kicked off in late 2017 and continued through early 2018. But the performances remain uniformly strong and hold the story together, even as it threatens to spin out of control. Her best moments have Holly making some questionable decisions, thoughher heart is in the right place. Symmetry opens the film. Hedges son, Lucaswho has put together a string of strong work in just the past couple of years between Manchester By the Sea, Lady Bird, Boy Erased and mid90sstars as the title character, a charismatic young man who radiates a combination of enthusiasm and understandable unease. New & Used (35) from $3.78 + $3.99 shipping. 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. It opens with Holly (Julia Roberts) coming home from church with three of her four children who have been practicing for the Christmas pageant. But then in the second half of Ben Is Back, it becomes a different kind of movie: a low-key thriller in which Ben and Holly are forced to run around town, revisiting his misdeeds in search of clues to a mystery. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Let us get to the ending. While Neal and Ivy may be against it, Dolly will probably reattempt to integrate Ben into society. US Release Date: December 7, 2018 Starring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges Directed By: Peter Hedges Synopsis: Follows the charming yet troubled Ben Burns (Hedges), who returns home to his. Advertisement: "Ben Is Back" shifts into gear once mom and son leave the house for a trip to the. 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. It is almost laughable to watch Julia Roberts wandering around a site full of addicts on a dark winter night searching for her child. What Hedges wants to do here is make you feel the dread and nausea of a parent living with a teenage addict the prickle of fear walking into his bedroom. At the mall another kid cheerfully greets him with Dude, I thought you were dead. At church he sees the mother of a girl who overdosed after he got her hooked. The Bottom Line Nerve-racking but not bleak or without humor. After the emergency kit does not produce results, Dolly even traverses taboo championing reasons boundaries, giving Ben CPR. for language throughout and some drug use. Photograph: Doane Gregory/AP These colors don't run. He is entirely credible as an almost-grown man whose credibility has virtually collapsed, who is in a constant state of war with himself. #everycopycounts support vendors this winter. ben is back mall scene "Bennifer" is officially back! 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.. Ben demands Holly goes home, but she refuses. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Hedges is as excellent as he was in "Manchester By the Sea," but it's fair to say the movie belongs to Roberts. Dolly gets nervous, and Neals worries trouble her more since she wants to give Ben a chance. His disease is acting through him, as if he were possessed by a demon that is also his double. Writer-director Peter Hedges depicts this phenomenon with intimacy and empathy in Ben Is Back, about a teenage opioid addict who leaves rehab for 24 hourssupposedly with the encouragement of his sponsorto visit his family on Christmas Eve. They search for Ponce together to no avail. 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