Reviewed by Fr. Peter Malone
US, 2019, 94 minutes, Colour.
Shia La Boeuf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, Laura San Giacomo, FKA Twigs, Byron Bowers, Natasha Lyonne, Maika Monroe, Clifton Collins Jr, Martin Starr.
Directed by Alma Har’el.
This reviewer was very taken with Honey Boy. It may not be the case for every audience but for those wanting something interesting, something different, something involving, some glimpses into human nature not necessarily seen every day, they may be very taken by Honey Boy as well.
Shia La Boeuf was a child actor, especially on television, then moving into the cinema, almost becoming an instant star with his presence in The Transformers series and a number of character films including Disturbia. But, he also hit the headlines with erratic behaviour, driving under the influence, evading police interrogation after another incident, going into rehab. He has more recently come back into acting with such films as The Peanut Butter Falcon and, now, with Honey Boy.
Many audiences who go to see this film will be aware of this background of Shia La Boeuf’s career and will be curious to see this interpretation of it. And this is especially the case since he wrote the screenplay himself, a fictionalised, non-fictionalised, memory of himself at age 12 and his relationship with his father. Actually, the film opens with his character at age 22, involved in a great deal of stunt work in demanding movies, but drinking, crashing, going into rehab. The episodes at age 12 and age 22 are very well dramatically intercut so that we understand better the life of the young actor, here called Otis, and the love-hate relationship with his father.
One hopes that the film has served as a kind of exorcism for Shia La Boeuf, an opportunity to acknowledge his father, but also to dramatise his harsh and erratic behaviour and some of the dire effects he had on his son, even his cruelty to the boy at age 12, going to AA meetings, four years sober, but an extraordinary resentful man, with an angry hatred for his wife (who is explicitly acknowledged in this film’s credits), violent anger at the man who serves as his son’s Big Brother, acting as chaperone and guide to his son who is extremely busy and popular in films and television, and being on the payroll for his work for his son. In the past, he had been a Rodeo clown, and still draws on this past in order to have some self-respect.
Which means that there is great curiosity in watching Shia LaBoeuf play his own father, with an unrelenting intensity, rarely eliciting compassion from the film’s audience, showing himself to be a difficult and even impossible man, wanting to be a father but continually failing, even brutally.
While this is a performance that demands attention, it is extraordinarily well complemented by the two actors who portray Otis. Lucas Hedges is Otis at age 22, a film star, but alcoholic, taught to smoke, even marijuana, by his father when he was 12, now reluctantly in rehab, reliving his past, talking to his therapist (Laura San Giacomo), urged to go out into the forest for some primal screaming, sharing a room and experiences with a friendly African-American in rehab, wondering what his life is going to be while remembering the mixture of mess and success that his life has been up till now.
Young actor, Noah Jupe, who has given striking performances in such films as Ford vs Ferrari, Wonder, Suburbicon, exhibits great talent as a knowing 12 year old who is also an uncertain 12-year-old, longing for some parental affection, forced to be judgemental about his father.
During the final credits, the audience has the opportunity to see pictures of both father and son.
While this is a showbiz film, it reminds us of the demanding nature in filmmaking, acting, and whether a young actor really has the possibility for making something of his own life. With this film, Shia LaBoeuf has dealt with his own life and his father’s influence in a most telling way.
See Also: Honey Boy (Wikipaedia)
Worth Pondering... 