For tragedy to be really effective onscreen -- modern-day tragedy, not the Shakespearean stuff -- it needs to be steeped in reality. Lose any part of the illusion, and the power gets sapped. That's the problem with this mourning-couple drama, the story of a troubled man and woman dealing with their son's unthinkable death. We're supposed to get inside their grieving heads, but distractions abound. Newcomer writer-director Shawn Ku, known for his 2004 short, Pretty Dead Girl, has plotted his very serious film with far too many dips on the believability chart. From obvious dialogue to poorly prepared surroundings, it's tough to feel emotionally invested in Beautiful Boy. Ku begins hanging out on the fault line of a marriage in the process of cracking. We quickly piece together that quiet husband Bill Carroll (veteran character actor and Tony Blair expert Michael Sheen) is itching to find his own apartment while wife Kate (Maria Bello) feverishly plans a vacation in the hopes of holding together their shaky family of three. When the couple learns there's been a shooting massacre at their son's college, Kate panics. When they discover their boy is the shooter and that he's taken his own life, their teetering life flips over.
The requisite rollercoaster ride follows, one of terror, denial, blame... the ups and downs are too predictable to be interesting, so the execution is all we can hope for. But the script, co-written by Ku and Michael Armbruster, doesn't provide the shining moments a film of this genre requires, the kinds of scenes whose uniqueness and flavor demand attention. There needs to be a good deal of research to get it right, but that level of depth and understanding doesn't seem present.
Ku attempts to capture the smaller emotional details -- in a single long shot, Bill expresses surprise to learn a pleasant outdoor odor is coming from nearby flowers, not his wife -- but the film tries too hard to capture a natural, voyeuristic feel. There's a forced energy that favors style over sincerity.
When Ku wants us to get jostled in the midst of Bill and Kate's conflict, the cliched movie-ness is unavoidable, as ridiculously tight, handheld shots push in between the couple. Yes, it's intended to feel chaotic and disorienting, but it overwhelms the actors' efforts, keeping us from caring about what's actually being said.
The lead actors do what they can to keep Beautiful Boy afloat. Sheen gives Bill as much of a character arc as possible, from callous, tight-lipped husband to weeping sinner; Bello's surprisingly thin role is challenging enough, but she doesn't have the subtle chops required.
Either way, both players are in on the put-on. When Bill and Kate share vending machine food while holed up in a motel room, the effect is unintentionally goofy, Bill trying to steal a laugh by presenting the meal as a gourmet treat. The filmmakers are shooting for vulnerability and emotional desperation, but the set-up is too contrived and immature to feel whole.
Even the goings-on within the film's perimeter are false. Bill's co-workers stare at him as if he were an insane hyena. TV news reports feature brutally bad secondary players spouting horribly inauthentic lines. Even Meat Loaf, a recent one-man circus on network TV and never known for his ability to blend in, has a couple of scenes that take reality on a detour once again. At a time in which reality should be left alone. Beautiful Boy should be many things: revealing, insightful, thought-provoking, emotionally fulfilling. Instead, it's just sad.
