YouBen- will immediately submit to a drug test! "Ben Is Back" hands down is the most emotional movie of the year. 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.But other scenes are directed with the pure . Filming also went underway in Garnerville, which was formerly known as Calicotown. A young man tells another young man, "I thought you were dead." And Ben has a secret. The best thing that can be said about this film is that Hedges isnt going for warm and fuzzy feelings. 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. Ben is around 20 years old (at which age I too was also . Ben has something hes not saying. Photograph: Doane Gregory/AP These colors don't run. The crew filmed in North Little Tor Road and along the South Mountain Roads in the suburbs of New City. Let us get to the ending. How much should my pay rise to beat inflation? Im Peter Hedges, writer and director of Ben Is Back. Ben Burns, played by Lucas Hedges, comes home unexpectedly on Christmas Eve Day. Hollywood films about addiction tend to be tasteful, well-meaning awardsy dramas. After the emergency kit does not produce results, Dolly even traverses taboo championing reasons boundaries, giving Ben CPR. by Marc on January 17, 2019 in Connect. So when the White House dodged the issue this week, I knew I had to talk about it. The film opens as he returns from his stint at rehab on Christmas Eve. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address. Added . He also keeps Ben and Hollys ordeal safely within the boundaries of convention, focusing on the particulars of one familys pain. The conflict is not his alone. Bens sister Ivy (Kathryn Newton) is all eye-rolling cynicism at this latest outbreak of sobriety. Ben's wary mother Holly Burns (Roberts) welcomes her beloved son's return, but soon learns he is still very much in harm's way. Lucas Hedges, like Timothe Chalamet in Beautiful Boy, the seasons other alliteratively titled tale of a young man fighting a drug habit, deftly captures the nuances of this condition. Meanwhile, shes trying to keep all the plates spinning for the rest of the family on this day of great expectations. Spencer shows up and, after a tussle, he confirms that Clayton, a drug dealer he used to work for, took Ponce. Read our parents guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.. Hedges film is stronger in its first half, when its an understated character drama, than in its second half, when it morphs into a contrived crime thriller. business Retail. You can help us keep our independence with a donation. However, with some help from Ben (he leaves Dollys phone number in the note outside the car), Dolly finds the vehicle parked by a house. REVIEWS Shes taken him Christmas shopping so hell have appropriate clothes to wear at church that night. On a trip to . While there, she receives a call from a man who found Ponce, driving out to retrieve him. Other Sellers on Amazon. And then she checks him because she has concerns. 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. Ben Is Back also traverses the same territory as the recent, better drama, Beautiful Boy, about a young mans addiction and the impact it had on his father and family. In fulfilling the assignment, Clayton offers Ben a pouch of the drug to reward Bens service in the smuggling operation. It is all calculated emotional button-pushing. Ben Is Back takes place in snowy, idyllic, small-town New York, and Ben comes from a family of comfort and means. 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. He wisely lets his actors act, giving them space to indicate so much in just a meaningful look. 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. Lucas Hedges has to work a tricky balancing act of appearing. As they're returning home to finish Christmas Eve prep, there's an unexpected guest on the doorstep . Shortly after Neal and Holly argue over Ben's arrival, there's a scene focusing on Ben's interaction with his young siblings. Does Ben relapse? And then theres Julia Roberts. Furious, she takes him to the cemetery, asking him where he would like to be buried. It is as if he has come home from prep school, not rehab. Driving out to an abandoned barn, he parks on the side of the road. "One of the 50 Coolest Websitesthey simply tell it like it is" - TIME, The current economic climate has reduced our revenues. As the film suggests, his list of sins is wide and deep, and many of his past indiscretions will be revealed, like doors opening on an Advent calendar, over the course of the story. Subscribe to learn more about the movies you love! Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is. And she thinks shes covered all the tracks. The questions his behavior creates for the people who love him are equally excruciating. Consequently, they set up a base at the village center and scanned the neighborhood. His relationship with Julia Roberts as his mother, Holly, provides the film with its vivid heart. Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. A man slams a passenger car window and pounds on the hood of the car as a woman and her son speed away. Ben Is Back shifts into gear once mom and son leave the house for a trip to the mall. The demon her son has been battling turns out to be a monster whose tentacles are everywhere and whose appetites are beyond reckoning. That is both a blessing and a curse. "ben is back" is filled with harshly poignant scenes, e.g., when holly goes cold at the very sight of the doctor who prescribed heavy doses of painkillers for ben when her son was 14, or when holly has a harrowing encounter with a childhood friend of ben's who has been ravaged by addiction and cries out, "i changed your diapers," and wonders how For the time, Ben only wants the dog back. FILTER by RATINGS Ben has something hes not saying. (Particularly so soon after another film about a privileged young addict Beautiful Boy.) Ben is Back: Teaser Trailer 1 0:55 Added: August 24, 2018. Ben has been in rehab for quite a few months, struggling with an Oxycotin addiction. As she follows Ben through an increasingly harrowing day and night, Holly gets a tour of an underworld that exists in the shadows of her sunny, stable reality. The film begins like a home invasion thriller as a young guy attempts to break into a house. Her expression is not one of disgust, or shame, or fear; she looks like shes shopping for an outfit and doesnt like what she sees. They search for Ponce together to no avail. 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. While maintaining the unity of action and time, the movie also features a lot of outdoor locations. A young man speeds away from a gas station leaving his mother inside alone and with no ride. Its here that the film starts leaking suspense. But even a scene set the safe space of a 12-step meeting, where Ben cracks jokes and tries to earn sympathy,comes off as disingenuous. Not a burglar it turns out but Ben (played by the directors son Lucas Hedges), the familys oldest kid, who is back from rehab unexpectedly for the holidays. You can learn to parallel park there, you can make out with your high school boyfriend . [11] The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018. However, Mr. Richmond did not abduct Ponce, making Holly and Ben move on to the next house. But you would never forgive yourself for not trying." Ben Is Back is a 2018 American drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges, and starring Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges and Courtney B. Vance. Holly finds drugs on Ben and he claims a girl at the meeting gave them to him. At other times she wonders if her sons addiction is her fault. Theres brilliant stuff here about recovery and how addiction destroys the fabric of a family. The suspense is generated by a deceptively simple question, one that haunts most stories of addiction: Will Ben use again? 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. Im Peter Hedges, writer and director of Ben Is Back. Ben Burns, played by Lucas Hedges, comes home unexpectedly on Christmas Eve Day. All rights reserved. It is almost laughable to watch Julia Roberts wandering around a site full of addicts on a dark winter night searching for her child. But this is one of those rare Hollywood movies that keeps you guessing, where you dont see the ending coming 20 minutes in. "Bennifer" is officially back! Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges are pictured filming a Scene for 'Ben is Back' at a shopping mall in White Plains, New York 03.01.2018 Advertisement. Shes always worried. Regardless, Hedges plants all kinds of details that are meant to pay off later but fail to deliver any real impact. People and institutions doctors, police officers and pharmacists, as well as her kids are supposed to listen, and to accede to her wishes. She ends up at Maggies house, and Maggies mother, Beth, gives Dolly an emergency overdose kit. Ben (Lucas Hedges) has no father and has turned to overdependence on prescription medication. Ben goes with mother, stepdad (Courtney B. Vance) and siblings to an evening church service, at which his sister (Kathryn Newton) is the featured singer, despite an apparent inability to sing in. The crew filmed some scenes in Sloatsburg, a village in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County. While Beths suspicion conditions the audience, Dolly gives saving Ben one last shot. [Peter and Lucas Hedges never meant to make a movie together.]. It is a big BUT uttered from Holly's tough love side. Ben Is Back (2018) - Filming & Production - IMDb Ben Is Back (2018) Filming & Production Showing all 3 items Jump to: Filming Locations (3) Filming Locations Edit Sloatsburg, New York, USA (Hayward's Market, Super Seven store) 14 of 15 found this interesting New York, USA 6 of 6 found this interesting USA Is this interesting? We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. (3,433) 6.7 1 h 43 min 2018 X-Ray HDR UHD R. Julia Roberts delivers a riveting performance as a mother swept into a race against time after her troubled 19-year-old son (Lucas Hedges) returns home for Christmasand suddenly disappears. After pressure from her husband, she insists she will stick to Ben for the next 24 hours. This time will be different. A young man talks about having an arrangement with his history teacher for drugs (possible sexual activity is implied). But Ben leaves with Dollys car, which gets Dolly worried. Stuart Dryburgh of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fame came on board as the director of photography. At the same time, a monologue Hedges delivers when Ben shares at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting is a powerful example of this young actors range, from swagger to introspection and, ultimately, regret. Hedges direction is efficient and understated in these scenes. She tracks down Spencer, giving him drugs she had confiscated from Ben earlier, in exchange for him telling her where he might be. Lost and dejected, Dolly calls Neal, illustrates the situation, and goes to the police station to file a diary. And since Clayton is the last person Ben imagined as the culprit behind the break-in, he does not want Dolly to go there. Filming took place in the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club, a country club located at 555 South Barry Avenue at the mouth of the Mamaroneck River. With the bathroom door opened- despite his protest. His Mother Holly is ecstatic, as are his young step-siblings. Abruptly leaving Dolly behind, Ben goes to Claytons place. If the thought has indeed crossed your mind, allow us to enlighten you. And then watching how she can, on a dime, flip from the happy mom to panicked mom and fierce mom Where did you get this? The film is actually most interesting to watch Hollys moral compass shift in any direction to help her son especially when she justifies his bad behavior to help him process his past actions. Dolly gets nervous, and Neals worries trouble her more since she wants to give Ben a chance. In addition, the team toured Mamaroneck, lensing a few enticing sequences on location. Like her, I found myself constantly scanning Bens face: is he using again? Can they trust him? But their journey is neither as harrowing nor as emotionally draining as the filmmaker thinks it is. 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. Prices of energy and food are rising rapidly. (But were still going to focus on the sad rich, straight, young white guys.). US Release Date: December 7, 2018 Starring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges Directed By: Peter Hedges Synopsis: Follows the charming yet troubled Ben Burns (Hedges), who returns home to his. THE ASSIGNED NUMBERS 19-year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns home to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. business Retail. Ben Is Back has been added to your Cart . He has been to rehab a few times, and his return brings more menace than peace for the family of Dolly Burns (Julia Roberts), her second husband, Neal Beeby, and the family. Suburban shopping mall parking lots are magical places. Another scene shows Ben running into an old friend at the mall, who exclaims that he thought he was dead. Holly exudes the tough, elegant self-confidence that has long been part of the Julia Roberts brand. - Opioid addiction affects not only the addict but the whole family. But hes also apprehensive about going into certain rooms in the houselike the attic, where he used to stash his drugsfor fear of the memories theyll conjure. The filmmaker previously made the enjoyable and piquant holiday-themed comedy-drama, Pieces of April, about a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving. Stepdad Neal (Courtney B Vance), whos paying for the rehab, is stony faced. Lucas as Ben has this rich inner life at the beginning of the scene. A young man is agitated when he goes into his attic and says that he used to hide his drug stash there. Ben Is Back Review: A Mother and Son Face the Horrors of Addiction, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/movies/ben-is-back-review.html. As a young man and his mother drive past houses, he points a house where he "used," and one that he robbed. - 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 packet of powder), and a young man says that he got a young woman hooked. . A young man says, "The last time I didn't help someone, they died." Symmetry opens the film. 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. 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