MovieChat Forums > Ben Is Back (2018) Discussion > Excellent film about addiction and recov...

Excellent film about addiction and recovery


Just wanted to say the other comments here are mostly negative. So to the detractors my assessment is that it's not below you; it's above you. Just saw it on Hulu and I thought it was very well done. Is it for everyone? If you like conforming and clichéd scripts it's probably not for you. If you want a movie that checks all the boxes of a drug addiction film it's not for you.
But if you like creativity, originality and 1st class acting which Julia Roberts and the others bring to this excellent film, you should see it.
Basically a recovering addict 20ish Ben, son of Julia Roberts comes home for Xmas and a reunion with an interracial family (this is kind of a random element added). He resists temptations while running into old "friends". The family dog is taken by someone from his past and the 2nd half of the film is about him trying to get it back.
Other notable elements is how it depicts doctors and pharmacies as responsible for the explosion of addiction in the US. And shows an NA meeting. Not that it's not contrived on some levels, such as on one trip to the mall Ben runs into all the druggies he knew, the doctor who hooked him, etc. then he's forced to smuggle drugs somewhere; across the Canadian border I assume, but that was left pretty vague.
In contrast Beautiful Boy I considered pretty clichéd. I heard an interview with the addict it was based on and he seemed like an total airhead.

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I thought it was pretty solid.

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Excellent write-up Adam60z. :)

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