It takes a lot from a filmmaker to drudge through their troubled past in order to craft a tender, coming-of-age story, but Shia LaBeouf has proven that he can do just that. Honey Boy is an incredibly raw look at LaBeouf's life as a young actor and how his alcoholic, criminal father supported him in his childhood. This story has a lot of heart to offer its audience through an often hard-to-watch narrative that is as real as it is meticulously sweet. My biggest concern going into films that are both about and made by a certain celebrity is that they will become too conceited and lean more on the side of exaggerating their success. Thankfully, this semi-autobiographical movie is a completely egoless telling of LaBeouf's upbringing and it couldn't have been performed as honestly as it was without its excellent cast either. While the narrative itself has trouble building, this film is a sincere reflection of mental health and the dangerous side of growing up in the spotlight.
Raised to be a child actor since birth, young Otis (Noah Jupe) has a very complicated relationship with his father James (Shia LaBeouf), practically paying him to be a mentor. Contrasted between 1995 and 2005 when older Otis (Lucas Hedges) is in rehab, Honey Boy follows the life of this young star as he attempts to balance maintaining his childhood, the troubled man that is his father, and his dad's accompanying sobriety and toxic ego. While this film was not completely autobiographical, the names of the characters and lots of minor details were changed in order to suit the story. This script, written by LaBeouf himself, was incredible and was able to transport me into his mindset as a young boy. The core of this story is the relationship and power dynamic between Otis and his father James, which was an obviously rocky one but made for the absolute best elements of this whole film. Having to handle your often manipulative and abusive father while trying to salvage the innocent, vulnerable moments of your own childhood was depicted extremely well and told with such care that it's easy to forget that this was not a fictional story. The dynamic between Otis and James was further explored as the older version of Otis struggled with his life in rehab. This contrast between his rehab and his father's AA meetings made for such an interesting narrative on how we as people try not to grow up to be the people that we despise. What I also loved, however, was that we saw Otis' life from James' point of view as well. Although it might have been a bit harder to sympathize with a toxic, former criminal, it was very responsible and brave of LaBeouf to tell this story with such grace. I adore how honest and egoless this entire film is about his personal mental health and the damage that his father did to him over the years. LaBeouf really does continue to impress me and his storytelling executed by Alma Har'el's tender direction makes this heartfelt drama all the more authentic. Har'el was a fantastic choice to direct this film, as her balance of inherent comedy with the personal drama was incredible.
Honey Boy's story would not have been nearly as beautiful as it was if not for the performances from the three leads. Jupe, LaBeouf, and Hedges are practically what this film relied upon and they did not disappoint whatsoever. All three of them were absolutely amazing in their own right and brought such different energies into playing out this story. The transitions between Jupe and Hedges were flawless and the way that they were able to embody the different life stages of LaBeouf's personal tragedies and trauma was so raw and well-done. As for LaBeouf, it must have been incredibly painful for him to play his own father figure and assume that role of basically shaping himself. Confronting the old wounds that shaped you into the person you are today is never easy and his performance as his father was very emotionally motivated. My only issues with this story have to do with its lack of plot development and its awkward self-awareness. Despite the sensitive and beautiful subject matter, I was expecting a bit more of a dramatic finale, as I feel like the plot itself did not build up to anything. It is based on his true life, but I could not sense much of an arc with him and his dad. LaBeouf is playing his own father, after all, interacting with an actor who is playing a younger version of him and while it is undoubtedly an interesting take on a life story, it can get a bit too meta at times. Thankfully, it was not over the top but there were certain lines in some scenes that I feel were only written to remind the audience that the whole story would eventually come full-circle. I also wish that the film would have taken some more time to get more into Shia's earlier acting work as well as his personal life, but still, the focus on his relationship with his dad was more than enough to provide an engaging story.
Alma Har'el's first narrative film is a tremendous success in honest storytelling and one that could have truly only been written by LaBeouf himself. Containing every mark of a small-scale indie film, this story of a young boy's struggles is told so carefully and honestly that it's clear to see how important it was for LaBeouf. Whether it's a true story or not, this kind of heartfelt filmmaking is what I enjoy most and this crew does not fail to deliver.
My Rating: ★★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment