Beautiful Boy, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and the feature debut from director Shawn Ku, begins with the depiction of a marriage on the rocks. Bill and Kate Carroll (Michael Sheen and Maria Bello) are in the stage where each spouse’s every word is filled with icy subtext and parsed in the most aggressive and aggrieving way. When they receive news that their son was the perpetrator in a campus shooting—taking his own life after a killing spree—their horror paradoxically pushes them further apart while forcing them to also draw closer together. The name of the campus is never mentioned, but Ku, whose parents met at Virginia Tech, acknowledges it was that real-life tragedy that prompted him and co-writer Michael Armbruster to add the school shooting to what was initially conceived as a “story about a relationship.”
The film has won praise in some quarters for its restraint, but at times it appears to be working so hard to not be exploitative that one has to wonder whether the campus shooting story was more of a burden than it was worth. While both Sheen and Bello are adept at suggesting deeper emotions behind the veneer of shock and numbness, that coping strategy holds the audience, like the rest of the world, at arm’s length. The shooting is a catalyst rather than a cause, and when the climactic, volcanic argument finally comes, it actually feels a little too generic. He wasn’t there. Her perfectionism smothered the son and pushed him over the edge.
But Beautiful Boy never really situates the couple in the world before depicting their isolation and withdrawal from it. Nearly every encounter Bill or Kate has with someone other than each other is designed to underscore the same point—how impossible it is to find a moment’s respite from their suffocating situation. Bill’s boss finds it easiest to deal with the discomfort caused by Bill’s presence by forcing him to take time off. Refusing to ever really explore Sam’s character and giving us only glimpses of the parents’ interactions with him, the film really lacks an antagonist, and its representation of an invasive media as an easy scapegoat comes across as too pat and too reliant on stereotypes.
Even a scene where Bill visits his son’s grave only to find it defaced with graffiti feels more symbolic than specific, and I found myself wondering more why the burial plot already had grass growing over it than I did asking who would do such a thing. Such plot continuity nitpicks may feel a bit petty in the wake of the film’s moral seriousness and earnest, sympathetic sadness. Still, if an artist is going to reference a societal trauma, I tend to feel as though he really needs to bring some light to bear on it rather than simply using it as a plot device to put his characters in a situation that allows them to be suffused with emotion. It is the little, day-to-day details that convince viewers (or not) that a character’s experiences (and hence emotions) are authentic—that the artist is depicting real life rather than merely speculating about it.
There are a couple of subtle nods to faith in the film. While Bill and Kate are not portrayed as religious, they are shown grieving at a clearly Christian memorial service. Kate’s brother’s family—with whom they stay for a while after the tragedy—are churchgoers. And in one scene at her son’s grave, Kate asks aloud, “What do they say? God doesn’t give you more than can handle? Well, not so true, is it?” She asks the questions calmly, seemingly without bitterness; one can almost imagine her contemplating the possibilities: Is God real? And does he really love us?
Whatever one’s observations, the fact remains that Bello and Sheen are performers of such immense talent that Beautiful Boy works well enough as an actor’s showcase. Ku worked extensively with both actors prior to shooting but avoided having them rehearse together in order to attempt to convey their emotional distance. Even more importantly, he often intentionally did not tell director of photography Michael Fimognari the specific blocking of a scene, a decision which kept the framing from looking too staged and allowed the camera to become, like the viewer it acts as a surrogate for, caught unexpectedly in the midst of a confusing and volatile situation. That decision pays huge dividends in the look of the film, where there is both a nervous energy and tense uncertainty that fuels the sense of dread propelling the plot forward.
Talk About It
Discussion starters- Director Shawn Ku has said: “I don’t believe in monsters. I have always been one to blame society for the ‘creation’ of our real life villains: murderers, thieves, terrorists, and especially campus shooters.” Are there scenes in the film where this attitude is conveyed? What are they?
- To what extent are parents responsible for the actions of their children? Is that responsibility legal, moral, or psychological? At what age do the children “outgrow” the responsibility of their parents?
- What is the state of Bill’s and Kate’s relationship at the end of the film? Do you think their marriage will survive? Why or why not?
The Family Corner
For parents to considerBeautiful Boy is rated R for sexual situations and language. There’s one fairly explicit sex scene, and language throughout. The physical violence is mostly implied or happens off screen, but the emotional intensity, including anger and hate directed at Bill and Kate, could disturb younger viewers. The parents use alcohol to numb their pain.
Photos © Anchor Bay Films
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