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 . His disease is acting through him, as if he were possessed by a demon that is also his double. ben is back mall scene "Bennifer" is officially back! But their journey is neither as harrowing nor as emotionally draining as the filmmaker thinks it is. Stepdad Neal (Courtney B Vance), whos paying for the rehab, is stony faced. Since Mr. Richmonds wife had cancer, he could get all the prescription drugs. Ben is jumpy, shaky, perhaps not ready for this yet. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. 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. I n its early scenes, Ben Is Back is more unpredictable and slyly entertaining than its earnest-sounding premise might suggest. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Disturbing video footage captured two boys fighting at a New Jersey mall on February 13 Bridgewater police arrived, and while one cop pulled the light-skinned boy away, the other tackled the. And hes with his mother Holly, played by Julia Roberts. The Fabelmans, Babylon, Empire of Light: Why the spate of love letters to cinema? Roberts never quite disappears into her role as a sacrificial mom. Hedges is as excellent as he was in "Manchester By the Sea," but it's fair to say the movie belongs to Roberts. Ben has something hes not saying. He leaves Ponce in the car with a note asking whoever finds it to call his mom. And hes with his mother Holly, played by Julia Roberts. Her best moments have Holly making some questionable decisions, thoughher heart is in the right place. YouBen- will immediately submit to a drug test! The storyline revolves around Ben Burns, an athlete dealing with opioid addiction. But what if she cant? While Beths suspicion conditions the audience, Dolly gives saving Ben one last shot. In this all new movie we find Morticia . His survivors guilt never feels as palpable as her mothers (Rachel Bay Jones) grief. [Peter and Lucas Hedges never meant to make a movie together.]. Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements. After pressure from her husband, she insists she will stick to Ben for the next 24 hours. Ben and Mal is a romantic pairing, Ben is the son of Belle and Beast, and Mal is the daughter of Maleficent and Hades.. Holly finds drugs on Ben and he claims a girl at the meeting gave them to him. New & Used (35) from $3.78 + $3.99 shipping. Copyright The Big Issue Limited 2021. Driving out to an abandoned barn, he parks on the side of the road. After mall PDA, AJ Raval insists Aljur Abrenica just . She wants to have a good feeling about her sons return. They start in very different places from where they end up. After Bens return, the situation at home is tense, although Dolly especially has faith in Ben. 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). The film suggests that drugs do not have to be illegal and sensational, like cocaine and LSD, but they are pretty mundane in a broken, contemporary world. Although Ben left Ponce in the car outside, Dolly finds Ponce in the place. Ben is around 20 years old (at which age I too was also . Suburban shopping mall parking lots are magical places. Regardless, Hedges plants all kinds of details that are meant to pay off later but fail to deliver any real impact. The crew filmed some scenes in Sloatsburg, a village in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County. Lopez, who turned 52 on Saturday, posted the steamy picture as part of a series of photos in which she donned a printed string bikini, marking her birthday. There is also an ominous image of a character who will figure heavily in the story later, especially as mother and son go to some disturbing places seeking catharsis. Ben and Holly talk and talk trying to gain understanding of the situation. Filming reportedly kicked off in late 2017 and continued through early 2018. 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. 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. Let us now take you to the specific locations where the movie was lensed. Ben Is Back Pits a Dazzling Julia Roberts Against the Opioid Scourge Alan Scherstuhl December 18, 2018 9:00AM In Ben Is Back, Julia Roberts (left) stars as Holly Burns, an ordinary. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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. The film highlights many shades of Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges' central roles, Holly and Ben. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed and a mother's undying love . Lucas Hedges plays the titular Ben, a recovering heroin addict, and Julia Roberts is Ben's loving mom. Was Ben Is Back, about an addicts unexpected return home, meant to be a holiday hate-watch? Ben demands Holly goes home, but she refuses. Recent episodes in Anatomy of a. 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. His Mother Holly is ecstatic, as are his young step-siblings. Jennifer Lopez on Saturday appeared to finally confirm her relationship with Ben Affleck, posting a photograph of them kissing on Instagram and Twitter. View Cart . Later at night, with little luck finding Ponce, Dolly and Ben try to reach a moment of clarity at a diner. All rights reserved. He also keeps Ben and Hollys ordeal safely within the boundaries of convention, focusing on the particulars of one familys pain. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Hedges and Roberts, but grossed just $12 million against its $13 million budget. 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. SPOILERS AHEAD. - Drug addiction, the opioid crisis, guilt, honesty, giving up on people, fear, truth, trust, support groups, rehab. He doesnt have the desperation that Timothe Chalamet displayed in Beautiful Boy that made that performance resonate. We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. In Wicked World, the two are shown to flirt, with Mal often complimenting on how cute Ben is and being impressed when he . Oh My God, God, Jesus, Heaven Help You, Holy [scatological term deleted]). However, Ben returns to life at the movies end with a jolt. Ive been with you the whole time. Excuse me! The girl at the meeting. And Ben going from cocky and confident to reduced and regressing in age and fearful and apologetic You think Im an idiot. All right. Vendors are amongst the most vulnerable people affected. Stars: Dan Russell, Teresa Gallagher, Kerry Shale, Kyla Rae Kowalewski. In fulfilling the assignment, Clayton offers Ben a pouch of the drug to reward Bens service in the smuggling operation. Still, she hides her jewellery at the top of the wardrobe. In addition, the team toured Mamaroneck, lensing a few enticing sequences on location. Her son tries to start it but is unsuccessful. They start in very different places from where they end up. Advertisement: "Ben Is Back" shifts into gear once mom and son leave the house for a trip to the. But she think she is. He has sworn that he wont, and part of him doesnt want to, but the other part has made him a liar, and worse, many times before. Check out the new movie clip for Ben Is Back starring Lucas Hedges! However, Mr. Richmond did not abduct Ponce, making Holly and Ben move on to the next house. (Particularly so soon after another film about a privileged young addict Beautiful Boy.) 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. While maintaining the unity of action and time, the movie also features a lot of outdoor locations. But on the plus side, Ben is natural with Liam and Lacey, although his seemingly benign song conceals a neurotic outburst. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address. The scene is a delight. They end up at the home of Maggies father Bens ex-girlfriend, who died from a presumed drug overdose. The demon her son has been battling turns out to be a monster whose tentacles are everywhere and whose appetites are beyond reckoning. Ben is Backs troubled white guy plot may be wearing thin but the addiction drama has moments of brilliance, says Cath Clarke. 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. 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. You can learn to parallel park there, you can make out with your high school boyfriend . He claims his sponsor thought it was a good idea for him to return home, to show how good Im doing. He then recounts a story of farts in a car that Holly thinks is hilarious. The Bottom Line Nerve-racking but not bleak or without humor. Furthermore, the crew filmed scenes in Larchmont, an affluent village situated along the Mamaroneck River. If you feel like encountering Bens outcome, let us give it a try. Meanwhile, ever the mom in control, Holly tries to convince herself its all going to be fine, even repeating 12-step slogans like It works if you work it.. Hollywood films about addiction tend to be tasteful, well-meaning awardsy dramas. 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. The best thing that can be said about this film is that Hedges isnt going for warm and fuzzy feelings. A young man talks about having an arrangement with his history teacher for drugs (possible sexual activity is implied). Dolly heads to a store to change the kit since it has expired, but they do not deal with such medications. She has made sacrifices, worked hard, raised good kids and as a result has earned a certain amount of deference. And thats especially clear when he runs into people from his past. Hedges direction is efficient and understated in these scenes. Surprises? 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. 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 . Christian Grey is a man with physical boundaries. Menu. 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. A family returns home form a performance and finds their house has been broken into; their Christmas tree is tipped over, the glass of a door is broken and their dog is missing. While the director meant to keep the finale subtle, we conclude that Ben is alive. Holly follows in her car, finding Ben in a nearby neighborhood. [6] In November, Kathryn Newton was cast as the titular Ben's sister Ivy,[7] and Alexandra Park joined as an addict Ben meets during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. This is especially true regarding a subplot about a young woman who died as a result of Ben getting her hooked on drugs. Hollywood films about addiction tend to be tasteful, well-meaning awardsy dramas. The production team supposedly lensed segments in Haywards Deli, a deli at 59 Orange Turnpike. 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. A young man speeds away from a gas station leaving his mother inside alone and with no ride. As for Ben, hes 77 days clean. In Ben Is Back, Julia Roberts (left) . A young man talks about people in a car flatulating repeatedly. [9] Filming took place in Yonkers, New City, Sloatsburg, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Garnerville, and Haverstraw, New York. Happy to see him but Holly is also wary, as she does not want his instability to affect the other children. He has a secret. Pockets. This is humiliating. No, this is love. Hollys oblivious. Free to go. You didnt check my shoes. Then Holly becomes concerned. This isnt a matter of ego or showboating. And then theres Julia Roberts. Another place where the crew set up a shoot was a cemetery in Haverstraw, where a heated fight between Ben and Holly takes place. The young actor seems to have cornered the market on playing troubled youth, but it is hard to care about his character because Hedges has no range. Ben Is Back takes place in snowy, idyllic, small-town New York, and Ben comes from a family of comfort and means. 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). And she thinks shes covered all the tracks. 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. As per sources, a few scenes were even lensed at a property on Johnsontown Road, simply known as The Farm. Technically, the film is a two-hander. A man slams a passenger car window and pounds on the hood of the car as a woman and her son speed away. See production, box office & company info, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Julia Roberts/Patrick Wilson. "Ben Is Back" hands down is the most emotional movie of the year. They search for Ponce together to no avail. Lost and dejected, Dolly calls Neal, illustrates the situation, and goes to the police station to file a diary. Gary M . I thought you were dead, one guy at the mall says off-handedly. 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. Anyone can read what you share. It is all calculated emotional button-pushing. Ben getting her hooked on drugs sexual activity is implied ) Dolly to. Lensed at a property on Johnsontown road, simply known as the filmmaker it. 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