Ben Is Back (2018)

Directed by: Peter Hedges | 103 minutes | drama | Actors: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar, Alexandra Park, Michael Esper, Tim Guinee, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Kristin Griffith, Jack Davidson, Mia Fowler, Jakari Fraser, Cameron Roberts

‘I hope that in a few years my film will become obsolete, that no one will have to see it anymore because the film has done what it was supposed to do. I think anyone who has to deal with these issues would like to see films like this not be made anymore.’ That’s what filmmaker Peter Hedges said on the occasion of the premiere of his film ‘Ben is Back’ (2018), for which he not only wrote the screenplay, but which he also directed. The film deals with addiction, a theme that Hedges came into contact with at a young age; his mother was an active alcoholic and left it seen when Peter was seven years old and his father worked as a priest with families dealing with this type of problem. But ‘Ben is Back’ wasn’t going to be your standard rehab story about an addict who saw the light and was healed from his illness. Instead, the protagonist would have experienced some degree of recovery, but still not quite put his drug past behind him. And his family had to play a big part in the whole thing. Because family relationships are a common thread through the career of Hedges, the man behind films such as ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ (1993), ‘About a Boy’ (2002), ‘Pieces of April’ (2003) and ‘Dan in Real Life’ (2007).

That Hedges’ own son Lucas – who broke through with his great role in ‘Manchester by the Sea’ (2016), which earned him an Oscar nomination en passant – was not the writer/director’s own idea, but from its female lead, Julia Roberts. She was so impressed with the young Hedges in ‘Manchester by the Sea’ that she put him forward to his father. It’s almost Christmas when Holly Burns (Roberts) drives home with her children—Ivy (Kathryn Newton) from her first marriage and Lacy (Mia Fowler) and Liam (Jakari Fraser) from her current relationship. To her surprise, she sees Ben (Hedges) standing in the driveway. He should be in rehab, but apparently he’s on leave for the holidays. Holly feels all kinds of emotions at once: she is happy to see her lost son again, but also feels uneasy. The last time he was home, things didn’t go well. Can she trust him now? To what extent is he really ‘clean’? Her husband Neal (Courtney B. Vance) would like to send Ben back to the clinic right away, but he and Holly eventually agree that Ben can stay for one day and that Holly keeps a close eye on him like a police officer.

Peter Hedges does not literally tell us what happened in the past, but from the looks, conversations and body language of the people in the church and in the neighborhood we read that there are quite a few people who resent Ben. He apparently not only used, but also dealt and you don’t make friends with that. The grimy world of drug crime contrasts sharply with the warm family happiness in the Burns household. Luck that comes under pressure now that Ben is back, because after Christmas in the church the windows of the house are smashed and the dog of the house has been kidnapped. They all know that this was done by someone who still has a bone to pick with Ben and he feels responsible for tracking down the beloved pet. Mother Holly watches over her offspring like a lioness and joins him into the dark night on a tour of dealers, her son’s old friends who now live like junkies on the streets, and mothers of children who have died of overdose. She also learns between the lines how far Ben sank at the bottom of his addiction to get what he wanted.

There is something curious about ‘Ben is Back’. The movie does pretty much everything right. For example, the acting is excellent. Roberts has rarely been better than this, and particularly shines in scenes where she is allowed to bare her teeth, such as barking at the doctor who once prescribed her son highly addictive painkillers that are now scarring him for life, or the way she struggles to find her lost son. Hedges and the actors in smaller roles also all look great. Still, Roberts and Hedges aren’t quite convincing in their roles; they are too polished to pass for a junkie and have become a mother through trial and error. They are too perfect, they lack that fringe that a role like this requires from actors. The screenplay is compelling, but also very well-behaved and predictable and the ending, which should surprise, is typically the kind of ending you would expect from such a neat film that tries too hard to be different. Because of that polish, the film makes less of an impression than you would like. And no matter how well Roberts and Hedges play, they are less believable as a result. That doesn’t make ‘Ben is Back’ an unpleasant film – on the contrary. Certainly in the first half we are drawn into the family dynamics and the guessing about Ben’s true motivations to visit his family again. Later, the film turns more into a conventional thriller in which Ben tries to save his dog and Holly in turn her son. Well played, but not always believable – but entertaining.