4 stars out of 5
The movie takes place on December 24, and I watched it on December 24, so that was pretty cool. Quick review: Really good but it’s a bummer. Ben (actor of the moment Lucas Hedges) is a young addict in recovery who has come home for Christmas. And maybe he shouldn’t have.
His step-siblings are certainly happy to see him, and so is his dog, and especially his mom. She is Julia Roberts, looking very well. Though I saw her on Letterman a million times, here are the only movies I’ve seen Julia Roberts in: Mystic Pizza, Hook, The Player, Everyone Says I Love You, Ocean’s Eleven, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Closer, and Ocean’s Twelve. Not her most prominent work. But based on her performance here, I’m back in Julia’s corner. Maybe I’ll watch that Amazon Prime series.
Stepdad Courtney B. Vance is none too pleased to see Ben. Vance will always be Criminal Intent’s Ron Carver to me, but he did crack me up in Office Christmas Party until that movie went to shit. And sister Ivy may be the most wary of all. She’s portrayed by Kathryn Newton, who I haven’t noticed before (despite the fact she was in Three Billboards and Lady Bird with Hedges already, huh!) but who does excellent work here. It’s clear that Ivy loves her brother but doesn’t want the family to get hurt yet again.
Mom wants to believe, or at least wants everyone else to think she believes, that everything will be OK with Ben this time around. Roberts’ tightly wound characterization is tremendous: Her second marriage/new family has to be perfect, their clothing for church has to be perfect, Christmas at home has to be perfect, and she’s going to keep smiling through it all if it kills her.
Or if Ben kills himself first. This is the most unlikable I’ve seen Hedges on film, and it’s impressive. We’re rooting for Ben to get well, or at least get through Christmas, but he does not make it easy. He’s agonized by his past and not real hopeful about his present or future. I could see another nomination for young Mr. Hedges.
The funny thing is, it’s his own dad, writer and director Peter Hedges, putting Lucas through these paces. (Ben’s biological dad isn’t even around, jeez!) I’ve only seen one other of older Mr. Hedges’ directorial efforts, Dan in Real Life, my golden standard for 3-star movies. (Not bad, not good, but at least watchable.) But I like that he’s really spaced out his directing jobs: four years between, then five, then six. I do think he’s getting better.
As the writer, Hedges deftly spells out the toll that addiction can take on a family and a community, even an upper middle class one. It’s heart-wrenching to sit through. Hedges doesn’t hit us over the head too much with “messages” (well, the pharmaceutical industry does get a quick jab that maybe doesn’t fit), and as director he never lets us up for air. There’s slow-boiling tension just below every scene, as we brace for it to totally boil over.
Jack Silbert, curator