Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

InaneSwine It can be hard to evaluate a film such as this. Its striking realism is both a gift and a curse: seeing its protagonists in their naturally empty and shell-shocked state for much of the film doesn't make for entertaining viewing - nonetheless its emotional scenes pack such a weighty punch, heightened by Sheen and Bello's terrific performances, you can truly feel their agony.While the fallout from the unconscionable number of tragedies that inspired this film tends to focus mainly on the perpetrator, then on the victims and their families, "Beautiful Boy" wisely forces its audience to think about the side of the story that is rarely heard.

OJT This is a film about the parents of a teenager being responsible for a school massacre. It's not about the violence, but about the nightmare it is to be the parents of what has been a nice boy, doing atrocities.This film is about coping, about dealing with something that can't be undone, about getting through, about reconciliation, about trying to move on. and it succeeds well. but don't expect this to be a drama filled with excitement. this is made give bot expressions and hope. It's a love story, and an unusual one, about surviving the impossible.Maria Bello and Michael Sheen does another great acting job here. I'm not too fond of the clipping technique or the camera movements here. But it doesn't ruin the storytelling. when the film takes an unexpected turn, it adds to the reality of it. It's not easy what they are going through. We follow the reactions, the realization and the up-waking from the sorrow.Very realistically told I guess in every aspect, and interesting as it's just seen from the parent's point of view. That is both interesting and important, as this is rarely a view of such a case which we rarely think about and experience. In a way this film both gives us the feeling, and an impression of there still being hope even after an unspeakable tragedy like this.Meat Loaf is turning up in a y role as a motel clerk.

Carrie Murray I will be honest, I saw this film listed on the movie channels and looked at the information and upon seeing it had Maria Bello and Michael Sheen in it, I wanted to watch it. The fact it was about parents dealing with the fallout of their sons college shooting pulled me in all the more.Having just watched it, I wanted to have a look what others made of it. There is a review that picks at how the film was shot, and the bleakness of colours/background, but for me that made the film better. I think sometimes films working on low budgets actually make it better, there is something to be said for going a little old school.The drab colours reflect what emotional turmoil the character's are going through, the fact that their world had literally plunged into unexpected and unwanted chaos when it wasn't perfect to begin with. We have two people who are already strangers to one another, there is an emotional and physical divide between them, and then this bomb hits their life and everything becomes isolated, bleak and numb. I think the directing, the photography and the actual film itself really encapsulates this feeling. Of course this is a highly sensitive issue, and there was a lot of talk about We Need To Talk About Kevin, in which Tilda Swinton delivers a wonderful performance. I think these are very separate films offering different perspectives. For Beautiful Boy, you don't have the son available to speak about his actions like the other film, you only get a couple of tiny snippets, the film doesn't focus on him or the shooting at the same time that it is entirely focused on them, but via the parents' reaction.I think this film stands out because there is no way to determine any wrong doing, and it feels that there really isn't any. People do demonise the parents after events like this, and here we have two people who are so completely stunned that they go through a series of emotions. They pull together, they turn on each other, they leave each other, they cry, laugh and shout. They have the double whammy of not only dealing with their child's death, but the fact that he had it in him to kill so many people.I don't think that Maria Bello and Michael Sheen deliver a well acted chemistry, I think they deliver a superb estranged numbness that would be evident in parents like them. It is a silent, subtle thing to act - and to also act out physicality in emotional ways, again - superb. They really turn the turmoil into a tangible assault for the watcher, you are compelled to follow them as they go through both individual and combined experiences and processes.I think if you are a person that enjoys films for what they are, films that don't need anything but good actors with a good storyline to be brilliant, you should watch this. It is a great step into looking behind the scenes of the families that have to go through these types of events, where they may not have been perfect parents but they were by no means bad ones either. Just everyday ordinary people that raised a son, that loved him, that worried about him from time to time, but had no idea that he was capable of murder.If offers no solid reason for his actions, I think that would detract from the film because though the storyline is about him, the film is about them. I also think you're meant to decide for yourself why things like that would happen, whether it is somebody in extreme emotional hurt that turns it outward or is innately bad or evil. Perhaps audiences are not ready to face that, there unfortunately is never a good time to examine this subject head on in this way, but Beautiful Boy offers the closest examination I've seen so far.

troy-manatunga How does one handle the death of a loved one?Mr. Shawn Ku is starting up the long road of cinema. I am experiencing his work for the first time and I am driven by respect to pen this piece down. Director and also Co-writer Shawn Ku tackle a tough one by taking on BEAUTIFUL BOY. A majority would agree that it is a great effort for a startup directorial. I value the effort however although well accepted it would have been accepted even better if Shawn Ku himself took a step back and looked at what he missed out on, I am most certain he will find areas that need fine tuning. The precision acting by Micheal Sheen & Maria Bello this time is the reason to me that failed in this drama. The acting is so greatly directed and executed by the cast that it seems that they forget to connect with the audience. All I experience is well enunciated lines. I heard noise but I didn't feel the anger, I heard sobbing but I didn't feel pain, I heard the silence but I didn't feel the sorrow. Bill (Micheal Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) are sharing a marriage that has no love. At the verge of separation they are willing to give the marriage one more chance by taking a family vacation with their son. Sammy (Kyle Gallner) a college freshman is having issues of his own. On a regular night Sammy calls his parents speak very indifferently and ask his mum a very unusual question before the conversation ends. Next morning Sammy's college is headlining the news as a shootout had taken place and 20 have been reported dead. None of the names are released in respect for the families of those who have passed. Two detectives walk up to Bills front door, Kate knew that Sammy is dead even before a word is said; however what she didn't know is that her son is the killer and he took his own life as well after shooting down the other students. A mother just lost her son, this has to be felt by the viewer don't you think? Shawn Ku has all the right moves with the camera angles, the close up shots, the abrupt silence to build interest, but his efforts would have gone a longer way if the emotional factor which is in my case the most pre-dominant of all factors is present.Mass high school and college massacres always have been a thriving issue in some countries. I am forcing myself to believe that this plot on its own is something that always had to be discussed. The public need to see what it is to be the killers' parent. How do they handle the pressure? What happens to the social status? How do they cope with colleagues? How do they handle the media? How do they move on with their lives and get used to the fact that from this day forth they will always be looked at by society in a different angle? Brilliant issues don't you think? A Brilliant movie it must be don't you think? It indeed must be to some, but not to me today. The issues don't tug at my heart as much as it should due to the lack of emotions being teased. This movie experience to me is just like the marriage Bill and Kate shared. They showcase a happy marriage but within they are empty for each other. This movie is empty to me.This is how I see it nothing more nothing less. Title: Beautiful Boy Directed by: Shawn Ku Starring: Michael Sheen and Maria Bello Rated: R for some Language and a scene of sexuality Rated: 04/10